Follower of Giotto, circa 1320

With Durlacher Brothers, London;
With Bacri Frères (no. 1027), Paris, by the 1930s;
From whom acquired by Sepp Angerer for the collection of Hermann Goering, Carinhall, July 1940;
At the Munich Central Collecting Point (card no. 6365);
Restituted to the owners, 25 March 1947;
Thence by descent in the family to the present owners.

 

N. Yeide, Beyond the Dreams of Avarice:  The Hermann Goering Collection, Dallas 2009, no. A434, p. 289, reproduced p. 79.

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 beautiful little panel is still in a single unbroken form. The wood on which it is painted is also painted on the reverse with an image of Christ. This reverse image has not been restored and is currently dirty and un-varnished, and fairly significant losses have occurred. Nonetheless it is stable and viewable. The paint layer is intentionally un-restored and there are a few small damages visible, one in the gown of the Magdalene where she is kneeling and a couple of other small spots, perhaps a result of woodworm in the gowns of other figures beneath the cross. The gold does not seem to have been restored and vestiges of the original gold remain throughout, although it is quite worn here and there. The details in the Christ figure and all of the figures throughout the picture are still very good, and the facial features are well retained. The calligraphy describing the figures standing beneath the cross is also un-restored and clearly visible. This is a rare chance to see and to appreciate this kind of work from an early date which has not been restored and which is clearly legible and in fresh condition. The picture should be hung as is. This is a very honest and interesting way to present the picture and it is difficult to imagine where the retouches would go, if anywhere at all in this area.
"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 panel must have at one time formed the central element of a portable triptych, small enough to have been easily moved by its patron for private devotion.  The choice of the saints depicted suggests that it was painted for a member of the order of the Poor Clares; the founder Saint Clare is depicted on the bottom register at right, while at the left another Franciscan nun saint is depicted and is identified as "Elizabeth", almost certainly meant to be Elizabeth of Hungary, who though never a full member of the order, became a tertiary.  On the reverse, two donor figures, a Franciscan monk and nun, are shown adoring a depiction of the Imago Pietatis.

Although Federico Zeri considered it by an anonymous Riminese artist, subsequent scholars have suggested different origins for the present panel.  From images, Keith Christiansen has suggested that it might be by the so-called "Maestro Espressionista di Santa Chiara", a painter who appears to have been a collaborator of Giotto at Assisi, working in the early years of the 14^th Century, or by an artist closely associated with him.  Certainly, this would place the picture in a very "Franciscan" ambient, thus neatly dovetailing with the panel's iconography.  Filippo Todini also considers it to be Umbrian, and notes its affinities with the work of Marino da Perugia, in particular the figures of the saints which are stylistically similar to the figure of an angel in an anconetta in the Museo Civico di Gubbio by Marino. Andrea de Marchi, on the other hand, has suggested that the picture might be Lombard, and based on photographs has suggested the name of the "Primo Maestro di Chiaravalle".  This anonymous painter worked circa 1320-30, centered around Milan and Bergamo.  His entire known output is fresco painting (for example, the Convent of Matris Domini, Bergamo and naturally his eponymous works in the Abbey of Chiaravalle, Milan), and the discovery of a panel painting would be an interesting addition to his corpus.  Whatever further study may suggest, it is clear that this painting was created by one of the first generation of artists conversant with Giotto's style and innovations, working in the first few decades of the trecento.