- 101
Workshop of Bartolomeo Vivarini
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
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Description
- Bartolomeo Vivarini
- Nursing Madonna
- Point of the brush and gray wash on paper washed light gray
- 197 by 123 mm; 7 3/4 by 4 7/8 in
Condition
Laid down and window mounted. It must have been taken off an old backing sheet and restaured. Top corners and bottom missing and made up. There are several areas of thinning of the paper and a few tears which have been repaired to the upper part to the left towards the margin and a smaller one to the right and one running horizontally at the level of the neck of the Madonna. There are abrasion to the surface and heavy oxidation scattered around.
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.
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.
Catalogue Note
This fascinating depiction of a Virgo Lactans is a rare survival from the workshop of the Vivarini family, datable to around the 1480s, when the bottega was still in the hands of Bartolomeo (active 1440-after 1500) and his nephew Alvise (1442/53-1503/5), the son of Antonio (active 1441-1476/84). The poor survival rate of drawings of this period from the Veneto, when compared with those originating from central Italy, and particularly Florence, makes the attribution of drawings from the region very challenging, and it is often necessary to look primarily at the style of the painted works for informative comparisons.
The physical type of the Madonna in the present sheet accords well with some of Bartolomeo Vivarini’s depictions of the subject, such as the painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., or the Madonna and Child Enthroned (1478), part of a triptych in the church of San Giovanni in Bragora.1 The typology of the Madonna's face, the linearity in the execution of the contours, and the attention given to the draped mantle studied with deep folds, are very similar to the powerful observation that are distinctive of the Vivarinis and their workshop, which had been first established by the two brothers Antonio and Bartolomeo in Murano. Moreover, the modelling of the form through the application of the grey wash, with shading, often heightened with white, is also characteristic of the few sheets that have been attributed to Alvise Vivarini.2 The technique and the style of the present drawing are also close to a sheet attributed to Antonio Vivarini in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Standing youth with a sword and a palm branch.3 1. R. Pallucchini, I Vivarini, (Antonio, Bartolomeo, Alvise), Venice 1965, reproduced figs. 174, 184
2. For example Head of an elderly man, London, British Museum, inv. no. 1876,1209.619; see H. Chapman and M. Faietti, Fra Angelico to Leonardo. Italian Renaissance Drawings, exh. cat., London 2010, no. 75, reproduced p. 256
3. Point of the brush and brown wash, heightened with white, on brown-washed paper; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 08.227.26
The physical type of the Madonna in the present sheet accords well with some of Bartolomeo Vivarini’s depictions of the subject, such as the painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., or the Madonna and Child Enthroned (1478), part of a triptych in the church of San Giovanni in Bragora.1 The typology of the Madonna's face, the linearity in the execution of the contours, and the attention given to the draped mantle studied with deep folds, are very similar to the powerful observation that are distinctive of the Vivarinis and their workshop, which had been first established by the two brothers Antonio and Bartolomeo in Murano. Moreover, the modelling of the form through the application of the grey wash, with shading, often heightened with white, is also characteristic of the few sheets that have been attributed to Alvise Vivarini.2 The technique and the style of the present drawing are also close to a sheet attributed to Antonio Vivarini in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Standing youth with a sword and a palm branch.3 1. R. Pallucchini, I Vivarini, (Antonio, Bartolomeo, Alvise), Venice 1965, reproduced figs. 174, 184
2. For example Head of an elderly man, London, British Museum, inv. no. 1876,1209.619; see H. Chapman and M. Faietti, Fra Angelico to Leonardo. Italian Renaissance Drawings, exh. cat., London 2010, no. 75, reproduced p. 256
3. Point of the brush and brown wash, heightened with white, on brown-washed paper; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 08.227.26