Alessandro Magnasco, called il Lissandrino

Hermann Voss, Wiesbaden;
Private collection, Munich.

M. Pospisil, Magnasco, Firenze 1944, pp. XXX, LXXX, reproduced fig. 98;
B. Geiger, Magnasco, Bergamo 1949, pp. 119, 153;
F. Franchini Guelfi, "Magnasco inedito: contributi all studio delle fonti e aggiunte al catalogo," in Studi di storia delle arti, no. 5, 1986, p. 297, note 32, reproduced fig. 108;
F. Franchini Guelfi, Alessandro Magnasco, Soncino 1991, p. 54, cat. no. 22, reproduced in color;
L. Muti and D. De Sarno Prignano, Magnasco, Faenza 1994, pp. 241-42, cat. no. 243, reproduced fig. 453.

The painting had an old glue relining which is firm and stable. The paint surface is a little abraded in areas of the background though this does not affect a reading of the painting overall and the image remains strong. A reading under ultraviolate light impeded somewhat by a milty varnish but does reveal extensive feathered retouching in the background, upper right, presumably attending to abrasion. Otherwise the figures appear to be largely untouched. The painting requires no further work and is ready to hang in its current state. Offered in a decoratively carved gilt wood frame.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Magnasco must have found commercial success with this composition for he executed several variants in the 1720s and '30s. See, for example, the version in the Los Angeles County Museum (49 by 34 cm.) which differs from the present work in several small details and substitutes the drawing hanging upper right with a closed window.¹ A reduced version, which focuses on the artist at his easel and the mother seen here seated lower right, is in the Musée du Louvre.²

When the painting was in collection of the celebrated art historian, Hermann Voss, it hung with a pendant depicting a Drummer.³

1. See L. Muti and D. De Sarno Prignano, under Literature, p. 228, cat. no. 162, reproduced fig. 341.
2. Ibid., p. 245, cat. no. 267, reproduced fig. 331.
3. Ibid., p. 267, cat. no. 392.