Andrea di Niccolò

Faith:
With Robert Langton Douglas (1864-1951), as of 1927;
Private collection, Munich, as of 1931.

Charity:
Private collection, England;
With David Carritt, London, as of 1961;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 4 December 1964, lot 106 (as Bernardino Fungai).

London, Wildenstein and Co., Early French and Italian Paintings and Illuminations, 29 June - 30 July 1949, cat no. 28 (Faith only, as Bernardino Fungai);
Newark, New Jersey, The Newark Museum, Italian Paintings of Four Centuries: 15th-16th-17th and 18th, 16 September - 19 November 1967 (no cat. nos.);
Paris, L'Oeil Galerie d'Art, Tableaux italiens: XIVe-XVIIe Siècles, June - July 1973, cat. no. 1;
London, Wildenstein and Co., Art & Commerce: A Relationship Reviewed within the Arts of Renaissance Italy, 11 November 1995 - 12 February 1996 (Charity only, no catalogue).

R. Van Marle, "Ancora quadri senesi," La Diana, VI, 1931, p. 173, reproduced plate 13ii (Faith only, as Francesco di Giorgio);
R. Van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, Vol. XVI, The Hague 1937, p. 274 (Faith only, as Francesco di Giorgio);
A.S. Weller, Francesco di Giorgio, Chicago 1943, p. 301 (Faith only, under "Works incorrectly attributed to Francesco");
L. Vertova, "Cicli senesi di virtù: inediti de Andrea di Niccolò e del Maestro di Griselda," in Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Federico Zeri, Milan 1984, I, pp. 205-206, reproduced pp. 201 and 203, figs. 198 and 200, and p. 204, figs. 202 and 203 (details);
L. B. Kanter in Painting in Renaissance Siena: 1420-1500, exhibition catalogue, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988, p. 346 (cited under the entry for cat. nos. 75 a-c);
D.C. Vatne, Andrea di Niccolò, c. 1445 - c. 1525: Sienese Painter of the Renaissance, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University), 1990, pp. 268 and 270, cat. nos. 25 and 27, reproduced figs. 13 and 15; also cited pp. vi, 10-11,186-194, 207, 211, 213, 214, 221, 232 and 235;
M. Torriti, Andrea di Niccolò di Giacomo," in Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon. Die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker, III, Leipzig 1992, p. 546.

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. These paintings are on panels that have no reinforcements on the reverse. The cracking throughout both pictures is level and stable. There is no instability to the paint layer on either picture. The paintings are probably slightly dirty and the retouches have slightly blanched, particularly in the seminude figure. If these works were cleaned, which is recommended, these few retouches would be removed and there would be the chance to more accurately retouch where necessary. There are no worrying issues with the condition and they are both in beautiful condition. The gilding is distressed where it exists, but it does not seem to have been restored.
"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."

These panels are two of a set of three paintings representing the Theological Virtues.  The third panel, depicting Hope, was formerly in the collection of Roger Warner and sold at auction in 2009 (where it was incorrectly titled Allegory of Faith).¹  These kinds of panels, comprising cycles of allegories of the Virtues or depictions of virtuous men and women of antiquity, were used for a type of interior decoration that flourished in Siena in the later fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth century.²  As with the present works, these figures were set against extensive landscape backgrounds, as if viewed through tall windows, and were probably set into the wall and separated by some sort of framing element.  The figure of Faith is identified by the cross held in her right hand and the chalice in her left hand.  In the left background, Christian pilgrims proceed towards a cathedral while at right a dog, a common symbol of fidelity and that is often conflated with Faith, participates in a deer hunt.  Charity is identified by the flame held in her right hand;³ in the background, St. Christopher can be seen carrying the Christ Child across the river and, at left, a group of pilgrims receive assistance at a monastery.

The present two panels were first ascribed to Andrea di Niccolò by Federico Zeri in 1958,⁴ and Luisa Vertova (see Literature) was the first to associate these two with the third panel depicting Hope.  D. C. Vatne (see Literature) has dated them to circa 1495-1500 when the artist was especially drawn to the art of Matteo di Giovanni.

Another such set of panels depicting the three Theological Virtues, by an Umbrian painter, circa 1500 (formerly ascribed to the Griselda Master and Pietro di Domenico  and, more recently, to the Griselda Master and the Master of the Chigi Moses) is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc. no. 1982.177.1–3).

 

1.  See The Roger Warner Collection, Part I, London, Christie's South Kensington, 20 January 2009, lot 400, sold for £127,250 ($183,542).
2.  See L. Kanter in Painting in Renaissance Siena 1420-1500, exhibition catalogue, New York 1988, p. 346.
3.  Symbolizing the love of God as light, a concept developed by the theologian and mystic, Bonaventura, in the 13^th century.
4.  Written communication, 5 July 1958.