Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia

Private collection, Brussels, acquired in the 1920's or 30's;
From whom acquired by the present collector 20 years ago. 

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 has been restored and looks well, but it is very shiny. When viewed under ultraviolet light, one can see retouches in the dark cloak of the Madonna, and a few very isolated spots in the right leg of Christ and the left wrist of the Madonna. There are no restorations in the faces of either figures or in the torso of Christ. The gilding to the work itself looks original, although the frame element has probably been carefully re-gilded to match. If the varnish were slightly subdued, the work would be extremely presentable.
"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."

Giovanni di Paolo was among the most inventive narrative painters in fifteenth-century Siena. During his long career he found great commercial success with his large-scale altarpieces as well as with more intimate objects destined for private devotion. It was in this smaller format, such as the present panel, as well as in the exquisite predelle he produced for his altarpieces that he produced arguably his best work.

Typical of the artist's style is the meticulously described hair of the figures. The panel can be compared to a Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome and Agnes of very similar dimensions in the Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.¹ In both panels the same drowsy physiognomies are seen, while both Madonnas wear similarly embroidered dresses. The Lehman panel is dated to the 1460s and a similar date of execution should be considered for the present work. Professor Freuler also compares the figures in the present panel to those of the fragmentary altarpiece (in particular the predellas) of San Galgano from circa 1470, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena.²

We are grateful to Professor Gaudenz Freuler for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs and for suggesting the work dates from the artist's maturity.

 

1. See. J. Pope-Hennessy and L. Kanter, The Robert Lehman Collection, I, Italian Paintings, New York 1987, pp. 138-39, cat. no. 57, reproduced.
2. See P. Torriti, La Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, i dipinti dal XII al XV secolo, Genova 1980, pp. 332-35, cat. nos. 198, 199, 201, reproduced in colour.