Zanobi Rosi

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 17 January 1986, lot 72 (as by Lorenzo Lippi);
There purchased by the present collector.

M. Chappell, "Some Works by Lorenzo Lippi," in Southeastern College Art Conference Review, vol. XI, number 1, Spring 1986, pp. 4-6, reproduced, p. 4, fig. 1 (as Lorenzo Lippi).

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 not been recently restored, but the lining is still effective. The painting is made from two sections of canvas joined vertically through the center. The join runs through the tips of the fingers of the figure on the right. The surface is stable and remains well textured. The paint layer seems to be in very good condition. Although dirty and dull, it seems to be very healthy and lacking any signs of abrasion or extensive retouching. Older restorations can be seen running along the original canvas join. It is likely that some of the darkest colors of the background and perhaps around the figure on the right have received some glazes in the past. There are also likely restorations around the extreme edges of the work. The condition seems to be very good in the faces, lighter colors of the figures and the sky on the left. The work could be lightly cleaned and varnished and the existing retouches corrected and enhanced, or the work could be completely cleaned and retouched more accurately.
"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 a private collection since it was purchased in 1986 (see Provenance), this large and impressive canvas of the Vision of the Centurion Cornelius is an important addition to the corpus of the rare Florentine painter Zanobi Rosi.¹   Baldinucci noted that he was a pupil of Cristofano Allori, with whom he was a frequent collaborator and some of whose works he finished after his master’s death.²  Indeed, his most famous painting, Michelangelo with Poetry, was painted for the Casa Buonarroti and is based on a drawing by Allori.  The Madonna and Child in Glory in the Duomo, Pisa, is also a joint work of the two artists.  The painting by Zanobi that comes closest in style to the present canvas is a Christ and Saint Peter on the Water for the Usimbardi chapel in Santa Trinita, Florence (see fig. 1), which Baldinucci notes Allori “aveva fatto tutti gli studi, e condotta la testa con forse la figura di San Pietro, e condotte altresì a buon segni l’altre parte, la qual talvolta fu poi finite da Zanobi Rosi.”³  Although apparently the head of Saint Peter in the Usimbardi canvas was finished by Allori, it is almost identical to that of Cornelius in the present work, and suggests that it might have been based on the same model or yet again on Allori’s design.  Miles Chappell, whilefollowing Longhi’s suggestion and attributing the canvas to Lippi (see literature and footnote 1), was able to connect three sheets of drawings to the painting, including that for the figure of Cornelius (Gabinetto di Disegni, Florence, inv. 7932).  That drawing shows the figure in different dress, with the head of what is clearly a young man (probably a garzone in the studio), and is also intriguingly inscribed Christofano Allori f. on the verso.  Another drawing of the whole figure but with a bearded head, again traditionally attributed to Allori, is in the Gabinetto delle Stampe, Rome (inv. F.C. 128730), along with a further sketch for the bearded head of Cornelius again in Florence (inv. 7919 F).

We are grateful to Francesca Baldassari for suggesting an attribution to Zanobi Rosi on the basis of photographs and for pointing out Miles Chappell's article.

1. At the time of the 1986 sale, the painting was sold with a photocopy of a letter from Roberto Longhi dated 29 June 1952, attributing it to Lippi.
2. See F. Baldinucci, Notizie de’ professori del disegno da Cimabue in qua, F. Ranalli (ed.), Florence 1845-7, vol. III, p. 732.
3. Trans: "He made all the preliminary studies, and painted the head and perhaps the entire figure of Saint Peter, and also brought up to a good level all the other parts, which was later finished by Zanobi Rosi."