ALTOBELLO MELONE | The Adoration with Saints Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Alexandria, Jerome and Bernardino of Siena, the shepherds and the journey of the Magi beyond

The Conti Lechi, Brescia; John Rushout, 2nd Lord Northwick (1770–1859), Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham;

His posthumous sale, Phillips, on the premises, 3 August 1859, lot 542, for 23 guineas (as Vincenzio Civerchio) to Colnaghi, possibly on behalf of Drax; 

(Presumably) John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge-Erle-Drax (1800–1887), M.P.;

By descent to his great-nephew, J.C.W. Sawbridge-Erle-Drax, Olantigh Towers, Wye, Kent;

By whom sold, London, Christie's, 28 June 1929, lot 88, for 320 guineas to Coureau (as Civerchio); 

With Julius Böhler, Munich;

Alfred Hausammann, Zurich;

By whom posthumously sold, London, Christie's, 10 July 2002, lot 113, where acquired by the present owner for £130,000 (as Altobello Melone).

London, New Gallery, Exhibition of Early Italian Art, 1893–94, no. 221 (as Civerchio).

G.F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, London 1838, vol. III, p. 200 (as Vincenzio Civerchio); M. Tanzi, 'Novità e revisioni per Altobello Melone e Gianfrancesco Bembo', in Ricerche di Storia d'Arte, 1982, 17, pp. 51–52, reproduced fig. 3 (as Melone);

F. Frangi in M. Gregori (ed.), Pittura a Cremona dal Romanico al Settecento, Milan 1990, pp. 251–52, reproduced pl. 49 (as Melone).

The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Altobello Melone The Adoration of Christ Oil on panel, in a modern gilt and painted frame, in good condition. The poplar support has been reinforced to the reverse by three horizontal wooden strips. There is visible remains of worm damage and a raised knot is visible upper left, to the paint surface. The panel is generally in a well preserved state. Under raking light planar deformation across the paint surface can be seem , compounded by small fractures to the panel. Some are as little as a few cm in length , the longest is 20cm and can be seen vertically through St. Jerome, perhaps denoting tension within the support. Minor paint loss only can be detected down the fractures. Overall, the paint layer is in a good preserved state. There is strengthened paint to the top left, mostly through the sky and the mountain. Further restoration can be detected across the surface, under UV light, where minor pitted loss has occurred. This is especially evident through St.Jerome's red cloak, through the faces and hair, through the head of the Christ child, Mary and the head of the cow. The paint texture is well preserved and many good passages of preserved paint are viisble, including through the foliage with the rabbits, lower right, the rocks to the cave, the mounted figures in the mid ground left and the sketchy red glazing to Mary's cloak. The restoration is, in part, excessive and not well colour matched, and gives a slightly biased impression of condition.
"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."

Altobello Melone, one of the exponents of the north Italian Renaissance, remained in his native Cremona for the majority of his career. His style leaned heavily towards the Brescian painter Romanino, with whom he is thought to have trained, though strong Venetian influences, particularly the work of Titian and Cima da Conegliano, are evident in his work. As Tanzi notes, the present work, executed early in the artist's career around 1510, is closely linked to Altobello's Madonna and Child in Bergamo, in which the influence of Giorgione is unmistakable. Frangi specifically points to Cima's influence in the present work, linking it to the latter's Saint Jerome at the National Gallery, London, particularly in the landscape setting and in the figure of the present kneeling Saint Jerome, who derives from Giovanni Bellini (for both see Literature). Frangi further notes similarities with the young Garofalo, who was active in Ferrara.

In the nineteenth century the picture formed part of the celebrated Northwick collection, which was sold in 1859 and 1860. The collection included countless masterpieces, including an impressive group now in the National Gallery, London: Raphael's Saint Catherine of Alexandria; Moretto's Madonna and Child with Saints; Francia's Portrait of Bartolomeo Bianchini; Beccafumi's Tanaquil and Marcia; Carracci's Domine, Quo Vadis?; and Lorenzo di Credi's Madonna and Child. Nine other pictures from Northwick's collection, including the present work, then passed into another excellent collection, that housed at Olantigh Towers in Kent.