Lot 426
  • 426

Jacopo di Giovanni di Francesco, called Jacone

Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jacopo di Giovanni di Francesco, called Jacone
  • The Madonna and Child
  • oil on panel, in a 16th century Emilian frame

Condition

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 restored for many years. The panel is more or less flat, and the reverse shows no reinforcements. There are strips of wood added to the bottom and top edges that are probably not original. These have probably been added to enable the picture to fit into its frame. There is a noticeable crack in the panel running through the right side of the Madonna's face, and further cracking and instability in the lower center in her red robe. There are also a dozen or so small paint losses in the lower center. The heavy dirt layer blocks ultraviolet light examination. While it is likely that the darkest colors surrounding the fingers and some of the facial features have probably been augmented and other isolated losses have been retouched, for instance in the green cloak, the paint layer seems to be quite healthy. It is recommended that the work be cleaned, and the paint layer consolidated and accurately retouched, which would make an enormous difference.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Jacopo di Giovanni Francesco, nicknamed “Jacone” likely due to an imposing physique, was a pupil of Andrea del Sarto like so many of the painters in Florence of his generation. Little firm biographical information about him has survived, and the account of his life given by Vasari is most likely tainted by the famous writer’s evident animus against him, whom he described as a “uomo pigro,” who dedicated his life more to carousing than to his art.  Whatever the cause of Vasari’s distaste for the painter—either due to a professional rivalry, an actual louche lifestyle or combination of both—it is true that works by Jacone are somewhat rare.  Vasari notes that the artist did produce a number of depictions of the Madonna, which were quickly exported to France by savvy Florentine brokers, no doubt to fill the taste in that country for such panels occasioned by his master del Sarto’s brief sojourn there in 1518-19.

The present depiction of the Madonna and Child clearly demonstrates the influence of Andrea del Sarto on Jacone, but also that of his contemporaries, Rosso Fiorentino and Pontormo. The painting may be datable to 1530-40, close in date to the large altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Sebastian (Pinacoteca Communale, Citta di Castello, Umbria), where the facial types of the Virgin and Child are similarly distinct.