Central Italian School, Circa 1530

In the family of the present owner since before the 1960s.

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These pictures are thinly painted in an economical manner. The strong contours allow the forms to hold together, despite retouching throughout the female figures. The figure writing on a tablet has suffered flake losses, most noticeably of the red lake paint used in the garment wrapped around her body. Further losses are visible in the putto supporting the tablet. Retouches are scattered throughout the figure reading a book as well. It is possible strengthening in the modeling of both putti and the women's dark garments lies beneath the varnish. Losses have occurred along old splits in the panel, some of which are retouched. Patches of tiny drying cracks in the paint film are found in isolated areas on both panels. A cleaning test is visible in the knee of the Sibyl reading, revealing some wear in the striped decoration of the white garment. Discolored, aged varnish and dirt coat the faces of both panels. The varnish fluoresces strongly under ultra-violet illumination, hindering the confirmation of the presence of retouching that may rest below the varnish. Each panel is made of a single board of horizontally grained wood and displays a moderate convex vertical warp. Both panels may have been thinned and have developed grain-oriented splits. Old repairs to the splits are failing and would benefit from structural intervention by a panel specialist in order for the paintings to be displayed safely. Both panels have an unpainted border around the perimeter although the border of the depiction of the reading Sibyl has been partially filled with new gesso. Cleaning to remove the dirt and discolored retouching would improve the tonality, however this would need to weighed against any wear that may be revealed, and the degree of retouching thereby required.
"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 two panels depicting standing female figures, dressed in vaguely classical and oriental fashion, almost certainly are meant to represent two of the sibyls of the ancient world, and likely once formed a part of a series.  Although pagan, the sibyls were considered to have foretold the eventual triumph of the Christian faith, and were accordingly venerated. Such depictions had become common in Renaissance Italy, and a number of artist produced images of them (Michelangelo’s ceiling the most famous example). 

The present pair would appear to be by an artist very familiar with Raphael.  The putti supporting each figure are reminiscent of his work in Rome, and in fact the sibyl in classical attire appears to derive her pose from that in a print by Marcantonio Raimondi (datable 1517-20) after a Raphael design.  Like the present work, the print shows a woman in ancient dress, her left leg raised onto a pedestal, a tablet on which she writes resting on her knee.  A later impression of the print in fact identifies the subject as the Tiburtine and Cumaean Sibyl.