Niccolò Pisano Pisa 1470 - 1538

Though born in Pisa Niccolò Pisano spent over twenty years in Ferrara, having being called there in 1499 to participate in the decoration of the Cathedral choir. He subsequently entered the employment of Duke Alfonso I d'Este and this painting probably dates from the same period, that is from the first decade of the 16th Century. The figures clearly show the influence of the Cremonese painter Boccaccio Boccaccino, who was in Ferrara until circa 1500 and with whom the artist has often been confused. The figures are also reminiscent of the Ferrarese artist Giovanni Battista Benvenuti, more commonly known as l'Ortolano, and both the colouring and landscape background are clearly inspired by the works of others amongst Pisano's Ferrarese contemporaries. The painting may be stylistically compared to another panel by Pisano representing The Holy Family recently offered at Sotheby's, New York, 22 January 2004, lot 12 (reproduced in E. Sambo, Niccolò Pisano pittore (1470-post 1536), Rimini 1995, pp. 132-3, cat. no. 31). That too has been dated to Pisano's Ferrarese period and the Madonna is of a similar type to the one in the present panel.

We are grateful to Dottsa. Elisabetta Sambo for endorsing the attribution to Niccolò Pisano on the basis of photographs.