Florentine artist, circa 1480-85, close to Sandro Botticelli

Paolini, Rome, by 1912;
Marczell von Nemes collection, Budapest, by 1913;
With A.S. Drey, Munich (according to an annotation in the Bernard Berenson archive);
With Kleinberger, Paris, by 1925 (according to Adolfo Venturi, see Literature);
Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Gutmann, Heemstede, by 1931 and entrusted D. Katz, Dieren, for safe-keeping, circa 1939, and subsequently lost as a result of Nazi persecution;
Dr. Richard Wetzlar, Naarden, acquired circa 1955;
Anonymous sale ("Property of a European Collector"), New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 1997, lot 74 (as by Botticelli, the attribution endorsed by Everett Fahy; sold pursuant to a settlement with the heirs of Fritz Gutmann);
There acquired by the late collector.

Amsterdam, Stedelijk, Italiaansche Kunst in Nederlandsch Bezit, 1934, cat. no. 52 (as by Botticelli).

H. Uhde-Bernays,"Ein unbekanntes Jünglingsbildnis des Sandro Botticelli," in Der Cicerone, 5, 1913, pp. 195–96, reproduced (as Botticelli);
A. Venturi, Botticelli, Rome 1925, p. 116, reproduced fig. 184 (as an early work by Botticelli);
R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, The Hague 1931, vol. XII, p. 132, reproduced 135, fig. 78 (as by Botticelli, perhaps a portrait of a pupil);
B. Berenson, "Quadri senza casa: Il Quattrocento fiorentino III," in Dedalo, vol. XII, 1932, p. 819-820, reproduced p. 820 (as attributed to Botticelli);
Stedelijk Museum, Italiaanische Kunst in Nedelandsch Bezit, (exhibition catalogue), Amsterdam 1934, cat. no. 51, reproduced fig. 51 (as Botticelli);
B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: The Florentine School, New York 1963, vol. I p. 146 (as the Master of San Miniato);
R. Salvini, All the Paintings of Botticelli, New York 1965, vol. II, pp. 76-77, reproduced plate 131 (as attributed to Botticelli);
G. Mandel, L'opera completa del Botticelli, Milan 1967, pp. 111-112, cat. no. 163, reproduced (as an artist in the circle of Botticelli, possibly a self-portrait of Mariano d'Antonio);
B. Berenson, Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance, Bloomington and London 1970, p. 184, reproduced fig. 333 (as attributed to Botticelli);
B. Berenson and G. Dalli Regoli, Il Maestro di San Miniato, Pisa 1988, p. 119 (as School of Botticelli);
S. Goodman, The Orpheus Clock, New York 2015, p. 173, 194, 227-231 and 236 (as Botticelli).

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. The best-preserved areas of the picture include the more robustly-painted sections, including the highlights in the hair, much of the garments, and areas of the face that use high percentages of lead white paint. The picture has undergone a few very well executed restoration campaigns. Under ultraviolet (UV) illumination the most recent retouchings — small touches in the face and a line along a vertical crack in the center of the picture — are clearly visible by their dark absorption. Older restoration campaigns, including glazes to knit together the modeling in the flesh passages and strengthen pink tones in the nose and cheeks, as well as widespread retouching in the background, lie beneath a strongly fluorescing natural resin varnish. Many of the contours are reinforced with retouching. The wood panel support, which seems to retain its original thickness, is comprised of a single board of vertically-grained wood with a moderate convex lateral warp. The engaged frame appears to have been regilt at some point, including repainting the outer edges.
"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."

When this striking and engaging portrait of a young man was last at auction, it carried a full and unhesitant attribution to Sandro Botticelli by Everett Fahy, who had studied the painting in the original.  Certainly, the work betrays the characteristics of the Florentine master’s style: the strong drawing of the features of the sitter’s face, the directness of his presentation, the strong and well modulated palette.  However, recent investigation of Botticelli has provided new information about the artist and his studio practice which has occasioned new avenues of study in late quattrocento Florentine portraiture.

The portrait depicts a young man in his mid to late teens, his torso in profile, with his head turned at a three quarters angle towards the viewer.  He is dressed stylishly, wearing a maroon gonnella (tabard) over a scarlet doublet (or farsetto) which has been padded in front to give him the broad, rounded chest then fashionable.  His bright red beretta matches his doublet.   His image is set against a dark background, and he seems to peer through a dusky pink fictive frame, which is painted to give the appearance of a three dimensional border.   The use of a dark background (as opposed to a lighter color or a landscape) is a device that Botticelli himself uses, somewhat early in his career.  A dark, blackish brown can be found in two of his portraits of young men, the paintings in the National Galleries in Washington DC (inv. 1937.1.19) and in London (inv. NG626; fig. 1).  Both these portraits have been dated to the first half 1480s, and it seems correct to place the present painting to about the same time, circa 1480-85.

While the earliest provenance of the painting is not known, it first reappeared in the early 20^th Century when in the possession of the collector and dealer Professor Paolo Paolini in Rome.  By 1913, it was with the voracious collector Marczell von Nemes, whose collection of Old Masters was internationally famous, and where it began to draw the attention of scholars.  It was published that year as a rediscovered portrait by Botticelli (see Literature).  For the most part, subsequent scholars connected the painting to Botticelli, attributing it to him or his close following. Bernard Berenson categorized the picture as “Attributed to Botticelli” but considered it in a broader scope of paintings he was studying with extremely strong Botticellian connections, the corpus of works he gave to an artist he christened the “Master of San Miniato” (he in fact grouped this portrait with that painter in his “lists,” see 1963 Literature).

An infrared image of the painting (fig. 2) shows the complex and varied creative process of the composition of the portrait.  The actual physiognomy of the sitter is laid out in a delicate manner, and shows traces of the marks of the transfer of the design by the spolvero technique.  The adolescent’s well drawn features—his nose, eyes, and his pursed lips, all show remnants of the small dots created by this method.  This suggests that the artist used a drawing from life to transfer the likeness of the youth onto the panel.  The rest of the composition is rendered free hand, and with a vigorous touch.  The tunic and sleeve of the sitter is drawn in with a carbon material, and certain outlines (for example, along the neckline of the garment) are enhanced with a more liquid medium to strengthen the contours.  The profile of the cap and the sitter’s hairline are all suggested, and vary from the final composition.  There are even some loose diagonal hatching marks on the back of the sleeve to suggest shadow.  Most interestingly, however, is the artist’s original intention of including the sitter’s left hand at the lower left edge of the composition.  The knuckles of the hand are clearly visible under infrared, and the hand would have been positioned, cropped, close to the front of the picture plane, to create a more dramatic sense of space, particularly when viewed next to the portrait’s framing element.  This same positioning of the top of the hand was used by Botticelli in his Portrait of a Man, (circa 1478) formerly in the Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri, Naples (since destroyed).

All of this suggests a close association of the creator of this painting to Botticelli.  The painting may represent collaboration, with the free and beautiful under-drawing suggesting a master’s hand, as do the compositional changes.  A number of artists worked with Botticelli at about this time, including the young Filippino Lippi, whose early style is somewhat close to this work.  What is clear is that this painting was created in the close ambient of Botticelli, very probably in his workshop and under his supervision, and perhaps in some way with his participation.     

We are grateful to Simon Goodman for his kind assistance in compiling the provenance of this lot.