Giovanni Bellini

The Boston Athenaeum;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, 6 October 1995, lot 200 (as circle of Giovanni Bellini);
With Richard Philp, London, from whom acquired by the present owner.

The canvas has a recent and rather rigid relining. The paint surface is now in poor condition, having suffered badly from abrasion and extensive losses in the past, especially in the flesh tones. There has been very substantial and uneven restoration throughout the picture. With the exception of some small details in the costume, the distant landscape and the sky, all glazes and most original paint has been lost or reconstructed. Offered with a later Venetian style gilt wood frame in reasonable condition.
"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 Madonna and Child is a newly discovered work by Giovanni Bellini. The remaining under-drawing, revealed by an infrared scan (fig. 1), is characteristic of Bellini's working technique of the 1470s and early 1480s. Particularly noticeable is the beautiful diagonal hatching visible in the left leg of the Christ child, evidence of the high quality of this work, the condition of which has been somewhat compromised by its transferral from panel to canvas The delicately rendered clouds and verdant landscape of our work are typical of Bellini from the 1470s onwards.

This work would have provided a model for variants by Bellini's followers. One such example is that attributed by Fritz Heinemann to Girolamo da Santa Croce, formerly in the Fitzgerald Collection, Fane Valley, which he correctly believed to be after a lost Bellini original.¹ The pose of the Madonna and the dynamic movement of the Christ Child in the present work are repeated in Santa Croce's version. This figural composition is echoed, with some minor changes, in Bellini's Madonna and Child in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, dated to circa 1480–85 (Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.352).

We are grateful to Prof. Peter Humfrey and Prof. Mauro Lucco for confirming that the work is by Bellini, on the basis of images, X-rays and infrared scans. Professors Humfrey and Lucco will include the present work in their forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Bellini.

1. F. Heinemann, Bellini e i Belliniani, Venice 1959, vol. I, p. 17, cat no. 53b and vol. II, reproduced fig. 219.