Giacomo Pacchiarotto

Anonymous, sale, Lucerne, Galerie Fischer, 5 December 1967, lot 1787 (as Matteo Balducci), where acquired for the present collection.

E. Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres..., vol. I, Paris 1999, p. 673 (as Balducci).

The support consists of a single, stable panel with a slight convex bow. The paint surface is secure with the details nicely preserved under an old varnish. There is an old damage of approx 2 cm squared to the left of her head, as visible in the catalogue illustration and an old vertical diagonal crack, approx 5 cm, under her left armpit and an old surface scratch in the left hand corner as visable in the catalogue illustration. Retouching work is evident in the aforementioned damage and old crack and confirmed under UV light which also reveals some other minor old retouching work scattered throughout. Offered in a carved gilt wood frame with painted decoration, a little rubbed.
"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."

This charming panel is a youthful work by Giacomo Pacchiarotto. The work carries a traditional attribution to Matteo Balducci (documented 1509-1555) and is accompanied by a certificate from Professor Federico Zeri confirming this attribution. In the past works by Sienese pupils of Bernardo Pintoricchio (1454-1513) were often conveniently bracketed under the name of Balducci but more recently a large part of his oeuvre has been reassigned to other artists, among them the Master of the Basso della Rovere Chapel who was active in Rome around the turn of the 16th century and who can probably be identified as the young Giacomo Pacchiarotto when he was working in Pintoricchio's studio in Rome.¹ The present panel is dateable to this period and blends Pacchiarotto's native Sienese style with Pintoricchio's Umbrian idiom.

We are grateful to Professor Todini for proposing the attribution and for comparing the work with a Madonna and Child with two attendant Saints also by Pacchiarotto and formerly attributed to Balducci in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, inv. no. 391 (see P. Torriti, La Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, i dipinti dal XV al XVIII secolo, Genova 1978, p. 55, reproduced).



1. See F. Todini, La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento, Milan 1989, vol. I, p. 111, reproduced vol. II, pp. 544-549, figs. 1262-1271.