Marco Basaiti

Albertini, Pistoia;
Col. Charles Towneley, 1877;
H. A. Peto;
Mrs. S.N. Crossby, Burton Pynsent, Yeovil, Somerset;
With Schaeffer Galleries, New York;
From whom acquired by George and Ilse Nelson in the early 1950s.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel has reinforcements on the reverse running horizontally which seem to be nicely stabilizing the wood and the paint layer. No retouches are visible under ultraviolet light and there is a fairly thick varnish to the surface which is not only likely to be blocking ultraviolet light examination but has also developed some fine cracking of its own. If and when the panel is cleaned, fine retouches may become more apparent in the mountains on the left, but the sky seems to be in very healthy condition. In the face there is very slight thinness to some of the paint layer and there may be a glaze and even some cosmetic retouches here and there, as well as in the hair and probably even in the hat and coat. Out best guess is that the condition is not compromised in any serious way and in all likelihood if this picture were to be cleaned, it would benefit greatly.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

We are grateful to Prof. Mauro Lucco for confirming the attribution to Basaiti, based on an image.  He dates the portrait to circa 1505-1510.  It is comparable to another portrait by Basaiti, signed and dated 1496, formerly in the von Pannwitz collection, though the present portrait is certainly to be considered a more mature work.¹  Prof. Lucco had known the present portrait from an old photograph taken from a glass slide in the Dipartimento delle Arti Visive, at the University of Bologna.  The slide had been made circa 1939 for Roberto Longhi who also believed this portrait to be by Basaiti.

The possible identity of the sitter as Alvise de Franceschi is based on an old (possibly 16th century?) inscription on the reverse of the panel.  The Franceschi family was prominent in Venice during this period.  Another member of this family, Andrea de Franceschi (1473-1551), was Grand Chancellor of Venice and a patron and friend of Titian's.

 

1.  See B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Venetian School, New York 1957, Vol. I, reproduced fig. 599.