Giovanni Battista Naldini

With Colnaghi, London, from whom acquired by the present collector.

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 work on copper has been recently restored and should be hung in its current state. The copper is flat. The paint layer has remained stable. The colors are strong, and although there may be a couple of restorations around the extreme edges, none can be positively identified either under ultraviolet light or to the naked eye. The work is in excellent condition.
"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."

Naldini spent his early years studying under Pontormo before spending some time in Rome, where he studied the later works of Raphael and his students. Upon his return to Florence he worked with Giorgio Vasari on the decoration of the main rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio and is perhaps best known today for his participation with the other leading Florentine painters of the day in the groundbreaking decorative scheme from 1570-72 for the studiolo of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke ot Tuscany. The paintings in the scheme arguably represent the pinnacle of Florentine late Mannerism and Naldini's contribution, his depiction of Ambergris Gatherers and his interpretation of an Allegory of Dreams, were amongst the best received by contemporaries.¹

This charming little copper predates the studiolo period and relates to the altarpiece of the same subject from 1566 in the Badia in Florence, his first important commission as an independent artist. Compositionally the main differences between the two works is the treatment of the soldier with the plumed helmet whose body, in the altarpiece, is turned to the left, and the figure of Christ, who in the altarpiece leans back further.

Two preparatory drawings are in the British Museum, London (inv. nos. 1856.7.12.9 and 1856.7.12.10).

1. See W. Vitzthum, Lo studiolo di Francesco I a Firenze, Milan 1969.