塞薩里·馬格尼

A noble family, Northern Italy, since the 19th century;
Thence by descent to the present collector.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work shows original wooden supports on the reverse. The panel is mostly flat, with only a slight curve from left to right. There are visible losses in the left thumb of the Madonna, beneath her chin and in the hair above her forehead. There are also a few small losses in the top edge in the green curtain and above the Child's head. The work shows some instability around these losses. There are a few small retouches visible under ultraviolet light in the forehead and cheeks of the Madonna, in her right elbow and in the neckline of her dress. There are others in the stomach and nose of the Child. There are a few spots of retouch in the cloud in the upper left. There may be older restorations on the right side of the cloud, but overall the condition seems to be good.
"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."

Hitherto unpublished, this tender depiction of the Madonna and Child is a new addition to the corpus of Cesare Magni.  The artist’s works are very much influenced by the style of Leonardo da Vinci which pervaded Lombard painting in the first half of the sixteenth century.  The painting can be compared stylistically to Magni’s Madonna and Child in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, which dates to 1530 and in which the figures are similarly placed before a curtain and window, with a mountainous river landscape beyond.¹  More compelling still are the parallels between the treatment of the Virgin in the present painting with that in the artist’s Madonna and Child in the Museo Borgogna, Vercelli.²  The two figures bear a striking resemblance in the smooth roundness of the face, the form of the chin, the large lidded downcast eyes and the dimple at the clavicle. 

We are grateful to Francesco Frangi for endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs.

1.  For an image of the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana Madonna see Fondazione Fererico Zeri, Università di Bologna, online database, entry no. 32703.
2. For an image of the Museo Borgogna Madonna see above, entry no. 32711.