Francesco Morandini, called Il Poppi Poppi 1544 - 1597 Florence

Acquired in Florence in August 1817 for Don Carlos Miguel Fitz-James Stuart (1794-1835), 14th Duke of Alba and 7th Duke of Berwick;
Thence by family descent at the Palacio de Liria, Madrid, until 1968 or soon after.

A.M. de Barcia, Catálogo de la Colección de Pinturas del Excmo. Sr. duque de Berwick y de Alba, 1911 (as Giorgio Vasari);
J.M. Pita Andrade, Catálogo de Pinturas de la Casa de Alba, 1960 (as by an unidentified artist, similar in style to Michele di Ridolfo);
F. Zeri, Italian Painters in the Walters Art Gallery, vol. II, Baltimore 1976, p. 337, under no. 218;
A. Tartuferi, in Collezione Gianfranco Luzzetti: dipinti, sculture, disegni XIV-XVIII secolo, Florence 1991, p. 112;
M. Gregori, Francesco Morandini, detto Il Poppi, Florence 1995, p. 91, cat. no. 24, reproduced fig. 39.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The poplar panel has tapering reinforcing battens, top and bottom, on the reverse. There is evidence of old worm damage and some minor restorations to the reverse of the panel. The paint surface is in good condition although there are two minor 5cm splits visible, top and lower right. Under U-V light restoration can be seen to the left eye and cheek and the shadow here, and to the back of the hand. These appear to be damages caused by previous worm infestation coming through from the back. There are also some minor retouchings to the hair and the background and three circular damages top right (old nail holes). The varnish is only moderately discoloured. The polychromed cassetta-style wood frame with gold painted decoration has some chips but is in good condition overall."
"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 is one of a series of half-length saints painted by Poppi during the 1570s; three other examples of which are his Saint Helena in Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery; another Saint Catherine in the Art Gallery of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana; and an unidentified saint sold in these Rooms, 21 July 1971, lot 279. The Saint Helena, the other Saint Catherine and the present work differ markedly in the lower portions, with different positioning of the hands, but the heads and arrangement of drapery and decoration compare extremely closely. The designs are so close that Poppi must have used the same cartoon for all four panels and indeed there is a cartoon in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from which they may all derive.¹

We are grateful to Mr. Everett Fahy for identifying this work as being by Poppi on the basis of photographs.

1.  See Gregori, under Literature, p. 90, cat. no. 22, reproduced fig. 37.