Benvenuto Tisi called Garofalo

Probably Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798), Rome;
Probably John Fitzpatrick, 2^nd Earl of Upper Ossory, Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire (1745-1818);
Sale, Christie’s, London, 19 April 1819, lot 119 (bt. Emmerson, £65.2);
Richard von Kaufmann (1849-1908), Berlin;
His sale, Berlin, Cassirer, 4th December 1917, lot 35;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 30 June 1971, lot 96.

B. Berenson, The North Italian Painters of the Renaissance, New York-London 1907, p. 224;
M.J. Friedländer, Die Sammlung Richard van Kaufman, Berlin 1917, vol. I, pp. 73-74, cat. no. 35;
B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaisssance, Central Italian and North Italian Schools, London 1968, p. 152;
F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976, vol. II, p. 37;
A.M. Fioravanti Baraldi, Il Garofalo, Rimini 1993, pp. 146-47, cat. no. 76, reproduced;
T. Kustodieva and M. Lucco (eds.), Garofalo, Pittore della Ferrara Estense, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2008, p. 159, under cat. no. 26.

In very good overall condition. The panel is flat and stable. The picture has been recently cleaned and restored. The faces and the draperies are thickly painted and have survived intact and in very good condition, with the sole exception of the head of the Baptist, the red robes of St Joseph and the shadows of the robes of St Elizabeth, which have been restored. The background, with the exception of the curtains, has been much restored. The restoration has been very well carried out and the picture will require no further attention.
"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 splendid Circumcision is an autograph version of Garofalo's picture in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.¹ In its use of strong colours and miniaturist detail, the work is typical  of the Ferrarese High Renaissance. The Paris picture is thought to have formed the central section of the predella for Garofalo's altarpiece of the Massacre of the Innocents painted in August 1519 for the chuch of San Francesco in Ferrara and now in the city's Pinacoteca Nazionale.² As early as 1632 the Louvre picture is known to have been removed from the Ferrara altarpiece and substituted by a copy. 

Other versions, some of them workshop copies, are preserved in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore (inv. no. 37.1077), the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool (inv. no. 2777) and the Pinacoteca in Ferrara (inv. no. 179).  Another version, left unfinished, was formerly in the Suida-Manning collection in New York.

1. See Fioravanti Baraldi, under Literature, 1993, pp. 145-46, cat. no. 75, reproduced.
2. Ibid., pp. 142-144, cat. no. 72, reproduced.