Workshop of Giovanni de Fondulis

each with later metal support,  Saint Clare with old collection label on lower left side (indistinct, "237")

Heim Gallery, London

Heim Summer 1972, no. 25; Washington, New York, Cambridge 1979-1982 , nos. 3-4 (illus.); New York 1981, nos. 1-2

Both with restorations throughout and areas of overpainting. Standard surface abrasions and losses/chips. Both upper sections with white residue due to humidity which seems to be removable. Both originally a part of a larger relief. Both with metal support below and on reverse. Saint Francis: Restored breaks include: in base, vertical crack up to knees and horizontal break through knees, his neck. Saint Clare: Restorations include in upper portion of cross, areas of proper right hand and arm, horizontal restored break through neck area and areas of head.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

RELATED LITERATURE

Gentilini 1996, pp. 29-46; Pizzo 2000, p. 119; Sgarbi 2006; Trento 2008, pp. 252-255

The present reliefs, previously ascribed to Nicolò Pizzolo, appear to come from an altar from which two other figural reliefs of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris also originate (the latter two with an original attribution to Giovanni Minelli).  Avery (1981, op.cit. p.36) notes that all four reliefs relate stylistically to fragments of reliefs from two further altars, one with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Francis in the Acton Collection, (see L. Planiscig, Andrea Riccio, Vienna, 1927, figs. 123-4) and the other with Saint John the Baptist in a private collection in Florence.

This group of terracottas bear resemblance to the work of the primary Paduan sculptors of the period including Andrea Riccio and specifically Giovanni de Fondulis (with much of the work previously ascribed to Minelli now given to the latter).  The facial types with heavily lidded, recessed eyes, classical features and simple, long folds of drapery punctuated with rounded creases at the knees are idiosyncratic of Fondulis's figural sculpture made toward the end of the 15^th Century.