Mariotto di Cristofano

Etchecopar collection, Buenos Aires;
Anonymous sale, Milan, Finarte, 21 April 1988, lot 107.

The catalogue illustrations are a little too pink in tone. Each panel has previously been cradled and the cradles have all been removed. The panels all have a slight vertical bow. The paintings in general are in a good state of preservation. They have been recently cleaned, restored and revarnished and retain the majority of the original surface. Top left (Clothing the Naked) There is an old horizontal split towards the lower right margin which has been restored. The wall behind the figures has an area of restored damages as does the upright tower at the extreme left. There are further restorations in the dark background above the wall. The figures themselves are only affected by small sporadic retouches. Top right (Feeding the Hungry) There is a small restored horizontal split towards the lower right margin. There is a relatively large area of damage of triangular shape in the lower left. There are further spot retouchings in the dark background and the figures remain otherwise largely untouched. Lower left (Visiting the sick) There is a large area of restored damage in the centre left of the composition, extending from the centre left margin through the patient's arm and down to his hand and in a diagonal line towards the left hand corner. The foot of the bed has also undergone repair as has the exterior wall to its right and the tiled floor has been extensively retouched; the figures again are relatively untouched. Lower right (Housing the Sick) There is a thin line of restored damage along the extreme lower horizontal margin and also some further restoration towards the extreme upper margin in the dark sky background. There are some small scattered restored damages on the wall of the church on the extreme left and three small restored damages to the tunic of the centremost figure. The painting is otherwise well preserved.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As Prof. Miklos Boskovits has tentatively suggested, these four panels depicting scenes of charity and the care of the sick are to be considered in connection with the large documented altarpiece by Mariotto di Cristofano now in the Accademia, Florence, for which they possibly formed (part of?) the predella (see fig. 1).¹ The double-sided altarpiece, dated by Berenson and Fremantle to circa 1445-7 and showing the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine on the recto and the Resurrection on the verso, was commissioned for the Ospedale di San Matteo in Florence and it seems quite plausible therefore that the predella would have included scenes depicting hospitals and the curing and healing of the ill or lame. Boskovits has identified a fifth panel in connection with the series (formerly with Boehler, Munich) depicting a Visit to the prisoners and two further panels were mentioned in connection with them (both formerly with Alex Wengraf, London) when the four panels were sold at Finarte in 1988.²

As Boskovits notes in his 1969 monographic article,³ and as first Procacci then Berenson and Berti had previously hinted, Mariotto di Cristfano was the step-brother-in-law of Masaccio. Masaccio's mother, Monna Jacopa, took as a second husband a widower called Tedesco del Maestro Feo, also from Castel San Giovanni, who by a previous marriage had two daughters. One of these, Caterina, was to marry Mariotto who, already well-established in Florence by 1420 when Masaccio decided to move there to further his career, may well have provided the first point of contact in the city for the young genius. Mariotto is first mentioned as a painter in the Aretine Liber custodie of 1413 and was a member of the company of Saint Luke by 1418. He was certainly still active in 1454 when he was commissioned to paint a banner "da Disciplinanti" for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in San Gimignano.⁴

1.  See R, Fremantle, Florentine Gothic Painters, London 1975, reproduced pp. 555-6, figs. 1157, 1158.
2.  See Provenance.
3.  M. Boskovits, "Mariotto di Cristofano: un contributo all'ambiente culturale di Masaccio giovane," in Arte Illustrata, II, 13/14, 1969, pp. 4-13.
4.  As mentioned by D.E. Colnaghi, A Dictionary of Florentine Painters, London 1928, p. 172.