Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Sassoferrato

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 painting on copper has recently been restored and could be hung as is. Almost all of the retouches are confined to the blue gown of the Madonna and it is likely that they may not be necessary in the quantity that is currently visible; they are also rather discolored. Nonetheless, the remainder of the painting is very well preserved and it could be hung as is.
"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."

Sassoferrato specialized in devotional easel paintings, usually depicting the Virgin Mary alone or with the Christ Child.  His works were in great demand in his own lifetime and the enormous popularity of his compositions is attested to by the numerous autograph and studio replicas of these charming and intimate sacred images.  The present composition is known in four other versions:  in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart (on copper, 62.5 by 48 cm.); in the Civico Museo Francesco Borgogna, Vercelli (on oval canvas, 103 by 77 cm.); in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; and another which was sold, New York, Sotheby's, 5 June 2002, lot 38 (oil on canvas, 99 by 80 cm.).  A squared preparatory drawing, which is almost the exact same size as the present painting, is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute, London (24 by 17 cm.).

Sassoferrato based his composition for The Madonna with the Infant Christ Child Holding a Goldfinch on a String on a work by Simone Cantarini known from an engraving.¹  A related painting by Cantarini, depicting the Christ Child holding a flower, is in the collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson.²

In a letter dated 29 September 2010, François Macé de Lépinay confirmed the attribution to Sassoferrato.  He will include it in his catalogue raisonné on the works of the artist, currently in preparation.

1.  See The Illustrated Bartsch, J.T. Spike, ed., New York 1982, vol. 42, pp. 86-7, no. 18.
2.  See Opus Sacrum, Catalogue de l'exposition de la collection de Barbara Piasecka Johnson, exhibition catalogue, Monaco 1995, pp. 13-14, reproduced p. 15.