Raffaellino del Garbo

Lady Battersea (according to a label on the reverse);
Mrs. Joseph Barclay, Hoe Hall, Dereham, Norfolk;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 19 June 1935, lot 143 (as School of Verrocchio);
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 11 December 2002, lot 90;
Where purchased by a private collector, New York;
From whom acquired directly by the present owner.

Columbus College of Fine Arts (possibly on loan according to a label on the reverse).

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Florentine School, London 1963, vol. I, p. 187.

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 is not reinforced on the reverse. The edges have been treated with wax, but the reverse itself seems only to have been slightly colored. The painting itself is fairly recently restored. And although some of the retouches may be slightly discolored in the upper sky, the restoration is sufficient and attractive. Some of the restorations that have applied are visible under ultraviolet light. They are fairly concentrated in some areas, such as the yellow dress of the angel, the upper sky on the left and center left, and the dress of the Virgin. There is a slightly gritty nature to the gesso, which has presumably become more prominent and attracted retouches. Apart from freshening the varnish, the picture could easily 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."

According to Vasari, Raffaellino del Garbo was a pupil of the Florentine painter Fillipino Lippi, whose style he emulated throughout much of his career. He is documented soon after 1493 in Rome, where his first work is a frescoed vault in the ante-chamber of Filippino Lippi’s Carafa Chapel in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome; he is also believed to have collaborated circa 1495 with Bernardino Pinturicchio in the decoration of the Borgia apartments in the Vatican.

By 1498 del Garbo had returned to his native town and in the following year enrolled in the painter’s guild in Florence. The artist’s Corsini Altarpiece, representing The Madonna and Child with Two Angels, Saints Jerome and Bartholomew, now in the De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco (reproduced in B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Florentine School, London 1963, vol. II, fig. 1168), is one of the artist's few signed and dated (1502) works. It is highly characteristic of Raffaellino’s mature output and reveals a fusion of Florentine and Umbrian styles, the former inherited largely through his master Filippino Lippi, the latter derived from his own experiences in Rome and from the work of Perugino in Florence.

The present panel almost certainly dates from the latter part of the artist’s career. The outlines of the faces and folds of the drapery have become stronger and the figures have a sense of solidity less apparent than in his earlier work. The composition itself adheres to a late 15th century Florentine formula, with seemingly two-dimensional figures arranged symmetrically across an architectural setting, with a distant landscape extending into the background beyond the arched portico.

When sold in 2002 (see Provenance), Everett Fahy confirmed the attribution to Raffaelino del Garbo, and described it as a relatively late work.