Bartolomeo di Andrea Bocchi

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 panel is not reinforced on the reverse. There is evidence on the reverse of a preexisting condition with woodworm that is no longer active. The surface is slightly warped and there is a bulge in the panel in the center left. There are a couple of areas where the paint layer has been cleaned: in the head and shoulders of Christ, in the saint to the left and to the right of Mary's shoulders; the remainder of the picture is not cleaned. It seems that the head of the saint in the lower left has been repainted but the remainder of the picture seems to show mainly original paint. Obviously there is old restoration and much of the gilding in the background is not original but this would seem to us to be a picture that would benefit from proper restoration. The paint layer is stable and the curve in the panel itself should not be corrected.
"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 Miklós Boskovits who, based on photographs, has suggested that this painting may be an early work, datable to the 1420s, by Bartolomeo di Andrea Bocchi of Pistoia.