Gherardo di Giovanni (di Miniato) del Fora

Mrs Barbara McLellan;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 8 April 1970, lot 13, bought by Francesco Romano;
Acquired from Franceso Romano, Rome, by the present owner in April 1983.

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This tondo has a fairly old cradle, perhaps late nineteenth century, and a few old vertical cracks. These appear to have been long stabilised and the cradle itself does not seem to have provoked any problems. There is a little minor past worm damage but the panel seems strong and secure. There is no trace of raised or loose paint either, although in the past there was some flaking along the cracks in the sky. These were mainly along the old cracks in the upper centre left of the sky, with a little near the horizon at upper right and also near the lower right edge. A cluster of retouched old flakes in the left sky may suggest a knot in the wood in this area. However any flaking has been thoroughly secured apparently long ago. The varnish is quite mellowed, and the retouching of any past flaking is now a little discoloured in the sky. The central crack or joint has a narrow line of discreet retouching through the Madonna's face and down to the base, and there is a fairly brief old slanting scrape in the chest of the angel that is also retouched. Another retouching can be seen in the landscape between the Madonna and the angel, with a small retouching in the blue drapery visible under ultra violet light. Older retouching in the lower right foreground appears largely cosmetic, as does some older strengthening by the horizon at upper right, and there are a few tiny apparently cosmetic touches in the angel's face and hair. Essentially this painting is in remarkably good condition, structurally secure and with comparatively little damage from past movement in the wood. The paint surface has a beautiful fine even craquelure and the luminosity of the tenpera brushwork is extremely well preserved and unworn throughout. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

We are grateful to Everett Fahy for endorsing the attribution to Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora following inspection of the original. The present work only came to light in 1970 when sold in these Rooms (as by Gherardo di Giovanni), and was not therefore included in Mr Fahy's 1968 catalogue of the works of Gherardo di Giovanni.¹

Gherardo was probably best known as an illuminator of illustrated books and his workshop, which was jointly run with his brother Monte di Giovanni del Fora, was primarily engaged in this activity. Gherardo did, however, paint a number of panels and frescoes, finding inspiration for the latter during his lengthy stay at the convent of San Marco in Florence where he served as a lay brother. His brilliant illuminations, which ultimately resulted in several commissions from Lorenzo de Medici, paved the way for his secondary career as a decorative fresco painter and devotional panel painter.  

Gherardo painted a number of tondos which follow the same broad design and are of a type made popular slightly earlier in the century in Florence by Domenico Ghirlandaio and Sandro Botticelli. The tondo format was popularised during the 15th century and culminated at the beginning of the next in Michelangelo's Doni Tondo, the apogee of High Renaissance panel painting. Such tondos were to be hung high on a wall, as if a window into a heavenly sphere. The present tondo may be closely compared to Gherardo's painting on the same theme, which employs the same three protagonists, and a similarly conceived background landscape, in the Seattle Art Museum.²

1. See E. Fahy, Some Followers of Domenico Ghirlandajo, University thesis, Cambridge (Mass.) 1968, pp. 113 ff.
2. Ibid., pp. 123-4, no. 22.