Workshop of Lorenzo di Andrea d'Oderigo, called Lorenzo di Credi

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: The panel is slightly bowed. There are a few paint losses visible on the paint surface, including a few old woodworm holes. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows very opaque and discoloured varnish layers and scattered retouchings throughout the composition. Overall the painting is in relatively good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This composition is closely related to an Annunciation by Lorenzo di Credi sold in these rooms on the 10 July 2002, lot 54. There are distinct similarities in composition and in the figure of the Angel Annunciate between that painting, and Lorenzo's paintings of the same subject in the Fogg Art Museum, Massachusetts, and in the Uffizi, Florence.¹ The Fogg Annunciation is dated 1508 and it seems likely that these related compositions would have been produced around the same period, indicating the use of a favoured cartoon in Lorenzo's workshop during the first decade of the 16th century.

We are grateful to Nicoletta Pons for her view, given on the basis of photographs, that the present work is a late product of the workshop of Lorenzo, and for noting similarities in execution with the works of Lorenzo's close and long-time collaborator Giovanni Antonio Sogliani (1492–1544). In her 1966 publication on Lorenzo, Gigetta Dalli Regoli categorised the aforementioned Fogg Annunciation as being in fact a product of the collaboration between Sogliani and Lorenzo.²

1. See G. Dalli Regoli, Lorenzo di Credi, Pisa 1966, cat. nos. 83 and 175, reproduced figs. 131 and 227.
2. Dalli Regoli 1966, p. 180, cat. no. 175.