Giovanni Francesco Tura

In the present collection since at least 1963.

G.M. Toscano, Nuovi studi sul Correggio, Parma 1974, p. 18, reproduced fig. 6.

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. This picture is in sound condition overall, with scattered touches of restoration, now discolored and easily recognizable with the naked eye. The retouching addresses minor losses as well as some more moderately sized losses along the bottom in Mary's blue mantle. Although the delicate uppermost glazes show wear, the artist's use of mixed pigments to create cool shadows in lower layers of the flesh tones remains unaffected, thus retaining much of the soft modeling in the figures' emotive faces. The aged varnish is slightly cloudy, hampering close examination of the blue mantle and foliage in the upper left; it is possible some degree of toning has been applied in these areas. A normal age-related craquelure follows the grain of the wood support; localized tenting has developed along the cracks, for example in the child's face. The vertically grained support, comprised of a single board, retains its original bevels on the reverse. The top right corner has been repaired and two small gaps have developed at the repair site.
"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."

Professor Andrea De Marchi recognized this beautiful and tender depiction of the Holy Family as by the hand of a Mantuan painter, only recently identified as Giovanni Francesco Tura, also known as Tura Mantovano.¹   This highly unusual artist developed a fascinating style, encompassing the influences of a wide range of painters.  The soft sfumato effects, coupled with the mystical, dream-like landscape, recall the styles of Ferrarese artists such as Garofalo, Mazzolino and Dosso, but the influence of Parmigianino, Lotto and Giulio Romano are also perceptible.  Despite all the variety of artistic references, Tura’s overall painting manner remains distinctly Mantuan in style.  The artist often employed curious iconography, exemplified in the far background of this painting, where smoke rises from a ship aflame among the vessels in the harbor on the city’s shore.  The face of the Virgin is reminiscent of that of Saint Sebastian in Tura’s Saint Eleanor with Saints Sebastian, Dominic, Peter and Jerome, now in the collection of the Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna, Modena.²

The corpus ascribed to Tura was formerly grouped under the name of the Orembelli Master, a moniker derived from a Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and the Infant John the Baptist in the collection of Alfonso Orembelli, Milan.³  Many of the paintings in this group had previously been thought to be the early activity of Correggio and, indeed, the present painting was published as the work of Correggio by Giuseppe Toscano in 1974 (see Literature).  Marco Tanzi has been hesitant in directly identifying the Orembelli Master as Gioanni Grancesco Tura, suggesting that the group of works given to the former is expansive and may in fact encompass more than one hand.

We are grateful to Professors Andrea De Marchi and Mattia Vinco for suggesting the attribution after firsthand inspection and to Professor David Ekserdjian for endorsing it on the basis of photographs. We are grateful to Professor Marco Tanzi for suggesting this lot is the work of an artist painting in Romagna, close to Girolamo Marchesi da Cotignola and Francesco Zaganelli on the basis of photographs."
 

1. Private oral communication with the department after firsthand inspection, 29 January 2016.
2.  M. Tanzi, Tesori ritrovati: Un dipinto inedito di un antico maestro pittore mantovano, Mantua 2000, p. 17, reproduced fig. 5.
3. R. Berzaghi, “Tre dipinti e un nome per il ‘Maestro Orembelli’,” in P. Piva and E. Del Canto (eds.), Dal Correggio a Giulio Romano, La committenza di Gregorio Cortese, Mantua 1989, p. 171, reproduced p. 172.