Joan Macip, called Joan de Joanes

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Soft wood panel (pine?) . There is a small scattering of minor retouchings in the background, along with the remains of an old varnish, and in the flesh tones of the boys where there is paint loss along the fine dark horizontal cracks. There is some shrinkage of the paint layer in the shadows of the arch and the lower ledge resulting in a filigree of pale craquelure. A tonal enhancement would be achieved if the varnish were removed."
"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 Dr. Fernando Benito Doménech for endorsing the attribution to Joan de Joanes on the basis of photographs. Both in terms of artistic technique and in the model of each protagonist, the work may be compared with the central panel of Joanes' Tríptico de la Encarnación in Játiva, Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Consolación¹ or with his Holy family with St. John in Valencia, Town Hall,² both of which were executed in the middle years of the 16th century.

1. See F.B. Doménech, Joan de Joanes, exhibition catalogue, Madrid 2000, p. 100, no. 26, reproduced p. 101.  
2. Idem, p. 122, no. 47, reproduced p. 123.