Alesso di Benozzo Gozzoli, formerly known as the Maestro Esiguo

Bruno Canto, Milan;
In the present collection since at least 1963.

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. Many details included in this picture — the highlights in the foliage and in the Magdalene's hair, the dripping blood at the foot of the cross, the town in the distance — appear to be nicely preserved. Retouching is visible in Christ's torso, the figures' faces, and the upper sky. There appears to be some strengthening in the folds of Christ's loincloth. It seems probable that an alteration has occurred in the pigment used in Mary's mantle as it was not likely to originally have appeared brown. Dirt is embedded in the fine network of aging cracks and a discolored varnish coats the surface. Scattered mild, localized tenting follows the woodgrain. The vertically grained wood support has been thinned, based on the exposed network of woodworm tunnels, and displays a mild lateral warp. Two crossbars dovetailed into the back of the panel are not original.
"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."

In 1927 Roberto Longhi grouped together a corpus of work attributed to the so-called Maestro Esiguo, whom he associated with one of two assistants in the workshop of Benozzo Gozzoli.¹  It was Diane Cole Ahl, however, who formally identified the two anonymous assistants in her 1996 monograph as Gozzoli’s sons, Alesso and Francesco.²  While no documents survive precisely ascribing individual works to either son, Ahl proposes that the more intricate and elegant hand known as the Master Esiguo was most likely that of his younger son, Alesso.³

We are grateful to Professor Andrea De Marchi for endorsing the attribution.

 

1. R. Longhi, "Maestro Esiguo," in Vita artistica, II, 1927, p. 65-69.
2. D. Cole Ahl, Benozzo Gozzoli, New Haven and London 1996, p. 196.
3. Ibid.