Domenico Puligo

Sir George Armytage (1819-1899), 5th Baronet Kirklees, Kirklees Hall, Clifton, Yorkshire;
Thence by descent until 2013.

National Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, United Kingdom, 1868, no. 69 (as Andrea del Sarto).

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 appears to be in good condition overall and recently restored. A normal degree of very light wear consistent with the age of the painting has been carefully restored. Restoration visible under ultraviolet illumination includes a shallow dent in the child's thigh, wear in the background that has been judiciously restored with small dots of retouching and reinforcement of the darkest portions of the red lake glazes. A small area of lifting is visible in the child's shoulder. The wood panel support appears to retain its original thickness, with a crossbar inserted across the middle of the back, and displays a mild convex lateral warp. Aside the area of minor lifting that should be set down, the painting displays no need of conservation intervention and may be displayed in its current state.
"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."

Alongside artists such as Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, Puligo was at the forefront of the Mannerist movement which swept through sixteenth-century Florence. After training with Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Puligo became a member of the Compagnia di San Luca in 1525. The majority of his output focused on easel-sized pictures for private devotion, as well as a number of portraits and a small group of altarpieces. His only known signed work is a Portrait of a Man, also dated 1523, in Firle Place, Sussex.  This beautifully preserved painting is an excellent example of Puligo's work and a hallmark example of Florentine Mannerism which took hold in the wake of the High Renaissance. The soft and smokey sfumato effect, the sculptural poses, and the elongated figures with the affected poses so typical of the Mannerist idiom, are all characteristic of his style. The pose of the Christ Child, which recurs in several of his works, including a Madonna and Child and a Holy Family, both in the Pitti Palace, Florence, ultimately derives from Raphael's Madonna della tenda in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich (fig.1).  Puligo's paintings, including the present work, have with reason often been mistaken for the work of Andrea del Sarto, who was undoubtedly one of his main inspirations.

This note is based on Dottoressa Elena Capretti's report, a copy of which accompanies the present lot.