Attributed to Francesco Albotto Venice 1721-1757

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 canvas has an old lining and is extremely dirty, and while it is hard to predict how well pictures from this period with this amount of dirt will clean, it seems that the palette is reasonably healthy underneath the dirt and we look forward to good results for restoration. In the darker colors of the interior of the arch and in the lower left generally, some sinking of the darker colors may have occurred. The profiles of the tree are a little thin due to some abrasion in the sky. There are visible losses and old fillings in the legs of the male figure standing in the lower center. There are most likely restorations here and there in the sky, although they are not immediately apparent to the naked eye and in the architecture in the center left there is a loss by the tree which has been filled. The lining is reasonably sufficient and could be improved without being changing. It seems more than likely that most of the restoration to the paint layer has been removed and not replaced. These un-restored fillings are quite visible and this picture will certainly restore well.
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The present composition is based on the invention of Michele Marieschi (1710-43) who had been Albotto's master and whose studio the younger artist took over at his death.  The prime version by Marieschi is in the Staatsgalerie, Stockholm (inv. 188), and versions by Albotto are in the collection of the Castello Sforzesco, Milan (inv. 380) and another with Semenzato, Venice in 1980 (see M. Manzelli, Michele Marieschi e il suo alter-ego Francesco Albotto, Venice 1991, pp.64-65, cat. no. M.56.1, and p. 99, cat. nos. A.56.1-2, reproduced).