MASTER OF THE LIVERPOOL MADONNA | Madonna and Child

Private collection, Oslo, by 1954.

F. Todini, La pittura umbra dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento, Milan 1989, vol. I, p. 147, and vol. II, p. 476, cat. no. 1105.

The panel is uncradled and slightly bowed. The paint surface is relatively dirty and the varnish clear and even. There are some tiny spots of paint loss in the sky, upper left, where the craquelure has become more pronounced. The haloes have lost some of their gilding, and there is a horizontal surface scratch, measuring approx. 10cm., starting from the centre of the left margin. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals fairly extensive, but sensitive retouching to the Madonna's face and chest, to her proper right hand, in the Child's face, arms and above His halo. There are also fine lines of strengthening scattered in the Madonna's proper left sleeve and around Christ's arm holding the globe. Another campaign of retouching comprises areas of the Madonna's robe, and part of the Child's hair. None of these is distracting and the painting is in overall good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The eponymous work of the Master of the Liverpool Madonna, housed in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool,¹ bears close compositional and technical similarities with the present Madonna and Child. The physiognomy and pose of the Christ Child in both paintings are the same, save for the positioning of the Child's left arm, and the pose of the Madonna is also similar, including her distinctively angled right hand at her child's side.  The present panel, until now only known through a photograph in the archive of the Zeri Foundation,² was attributed by Todini to the Master of the Liverpool Madonna (see Literature), a fifteenth-century master first identified by Zeri, who connected several works to the anonymous figure.³ The Master has been variously affiliated with painters such as Antoniazzo (in whose studio he likely trained) and Pier Matteo d’Amelia, as well as having been in contact with Pintoricchio, with whom he may have worked on the Sala del Credo of the Borgia Apartments in the Vatican, the private residence of Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503).

1 Walker Art Gallery, Foreign Schools Catalogue, Text Vol., Liverpool 1963, p. 9, cat. no. 2751, reproduced Plates Vol., Liverpool 1965, fig. no. 2751.
2 Zeri no. 26047.
3 See F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976, pp. 166–67; see also F. Zeri, ‘Appunti sul Lindenau-Museum di Altenburg’, in Bollettino d’Arte, XLIX, 1964, pp. 45–53, specifically pp. 52–3.