Believed to have passed down by inheritance in the present owner's extended family since the late 19th century.
The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's:
Structural Condition
The panel has two horizontal cross-batons on the reverse and framing fillets around the outer edges. There are several fine, vertical fracture lines, the majority of which appear to be historic, with the exception of one thin fracture line which runs down through the face of St. John. This fracture line is approximately 18 cm in from the left vertical edge and is a continuation of an earlier, historic fracture line which runs down from the upper horizontal edge.
There are a number of worm holes.
Paint surface
The paint surface has dull and discoloured varnish layers and should respond very well to cleaning. It is most encouraging to note that the fine detail of the composition, especially the delicate flesh tones, appear remarkably well preserved.
A number of slightly discoloured retouchings are visible in natural light, such as those on the Virgin's neck and jaw and on Her draperies. These retouchings are undoubtedly far larger than is really necessary and if removed during the cleaning process could be significantly reduced with more careful inpainting.
There are various old, historic repairs to the gold ground.
Inspection under ultraviolet light shows these and other earlier retouchings, which again appear excessive and could be significantly reduced. There are a number of retouchings identifiable under ultraviolet light on the Virgin's blue draperies and an area between her eyebrows.
Summary
The painting would therefore appear to be in essentially very good condition with the potential to be transformed by cleaning, restoration and revarnishing. The apparently remarkably well preserved details and flesh tones should be noted.
"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."
This beautifully preserved gold ground is an important late work by the Sienese artist Girolamo di Benvenuto. Girolamo trained in the workshop of his father Benvenuto di Giovanni and followed his style closely during the early years of his career, which culminated with the signed and dated altarpiece of 1508, the
Madonna della Neve, in the Pinacoteca, Siena.
1
Striking parallels can be drawn between our work and a group of late works by the artist, including the large altarpiece in the Bagatti-Valsecchi collection in Milan, which shows the Madonna and Child enthroned and surrounded by saints.2 The rosy-cheeked and sweet-faced Virgin turned to three-quarters in the present work is extremely close to both that in the Bagatti-Valsecchi altarpiece and another work from this period, a panel in the Landesgalerie, Hannover, showing the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine.3 These three works are evidence of the enrichment of Girolamo's style through the influence of Bernardino Fungai, something particularly visible in the docile figures, greater spatial awareness and decorative sensibility in the use of colour and treatment of drapery.
1. P. Torriti, La Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena: i dipinti dal XV al XVIII secolo, Genoa 1978, p. 22–25, reproduced figs. 14–16.
2. L. Vertova, 'Il Maestro della Pala Bagatti Valsecchi', in Antichità viva, 8, 1969, p. 8. Vertova gave this work, and others in the group, to the eponymous Master of the Bagatti-Valsecchi Altarpiece. Federico Zeri believed there was no basis for this and returned the group to Girolamo’s late period (F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976, p, 133).
3. H.W. Grohn, Niedersächsischen Landesmuseum Hannover: Die italienischen Gemälde, Hannover 1995, pp. 73–75, reproduced fig. 40.
