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 painting is in very good condition overall. The thinly applied paint appears to be free of wear, abrasion or significant losses. Raised cracks located near the crucifixion, in the child's hair and proper left arm and in Mary's proper left shoulder appear to be associated with physical aspects of the wood panel and are stable. An area of tenting is visible in the left side of Mary's mantle. Small losses exist along cracks that have developed following the vertical wood grain, primarily along the panel joins. The surface is coated with a layer of dirt and grime which, along with the discolored varnish, visually suppresses the tonal range and contrast. The panel is planar and appears to retain its original thickness. Patches of white putty on the reverse may have been applied to stabilize cracks and areas of old insect damage. Cleaning to remove the dirt and aged varnish can be expected to brighten the appearance overall and boost the contrast slightly.
"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."
The work of the Master of San Miniato was first isolated by Bernard Berenson in 1913, who named the painter after an altarpiece in the small town of San Miniato al Tedesco, in the province of Pisa. Berenson identified eight works by the artist, whom he noted appeared to have been formed under the influence of Filippo Lippi, but “felt to such a degree the attraction of Pesellino that he never got over it, although he lived to come under the influence of Botticelli and perhaps of Ghirlandajo as well.”
1 Since then, the artist’s
corpus has been added to generously by numerous scholars, and his unique artistic personality has become clearer, even if his exact identity remains elusive.
The present Madonna and Child is typical of the artist’s work, most of which was produced for private domestic devotion. A few versions of this composition by the artist exist, with variations. Most close to the present work is a painting now in the Depositi of the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 3356), which was formerly in the Odescalchi collection, Rome (see G. Dalli Regoli, Il “Maestro di San Miniato,” 1988, pp.222-223, no. 21, reproduced, fig. 167). That painting was damaged in the past, and the bottom section of the composition, from about the waist of the Christ Child down, has been lost. The present panel, which is in much better state, also has the same lunette above, with Saints Francis and Jerome adoring the Crucifixion. Recently, another version of the composition, but with Saint Francis and the Baptist in the lunette above, was sold at the Dorotheum, Vienna (20 October, 2015, lot 21).
1. B. Berenson, Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance, 1969, p. 184.
