Vittore Ghislandi, called Fra Galgario

Private collection, Germany, since the late 1950s.

The painting is in good, untouched condition with much of the original impasto still in evidence. The canvas has been relined and the paint surface has not been too pressed and remains well preserved. The paint surface is dirty and is covered by a thick old varnish. There are areas of localised old repainting, focused mainly in the lower right, upper left and centre right margins. There are further scattered, discoloured old retouchings to the wall on the left and a small restored 1cm circular damage to the right of the man’s head. There are two parallel scratches on his right shoulder of 3 and 6 cm and a few very minor scattered pinpoint losses.
"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 portrait of a well-dressed boy, seemingly in his early teens, was undoubtedly painted as a pendant to a portrait of a slightly older boy, presumably the sitter's brother, sold in the these Rooms 7 July 2011, lot 67, which established a new record for the artist at auction (£270,000). The portrait is executed with supreme virtuosity and confidence and dates to the artist's full maturity in the 1730s.

Vittore Ghislandi entered the Order of the Minims in the monastery of Galgario in Bergamo in 1702, at the age of forty-seven, and henceforward was known by the name of the saint after whom the monastery was named. He had been born in Bergamo, into a family of painters, and he spent time in the studios of several professional painters there, including those of Giacomo Cotta and Bartolommeo Bianchi. The greatest influence on his art was however to be found in Venice. Here in the 1690s he entered the studio of Sebastiano Bombelli where he acquired a palette and technique that he took back home and blended with the more formal Bergamasque tradition of portraiture, producing a style that became entirely his own and that found him fame both at home and abroad, notably with Marshal Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (1661–1774), perhaps the most formidable collector of the eighteenth century.

We are grateful to Dott. Francesco Frangi for endorsing the attribution to Fra Galgario and for confirming the date of execution to the 1730s.