Bartolomeo Vivarini

Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria (1902-1990), Munich.

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 work has been recently restored and should be hung as is. While the frame might not be period and the gilding to the work itself may have been restored, the painted area of the figure is in very good condition. There are small restorations in the darker color in the shadow of the gown and a few spots in her blue dress and in her face and neck there are a few isolated retouches. However, the condition of the painting, the figure and the restoration, is generally very good. There seems to be a section of the frame which is missing to the three sides immediately surrounding the upper portion of the rectangle.
"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."

Bartolomeo Vivarini is first recorded in 1450 when he signed jointly with his older brother Antonio a polyptych for the Certosa in Bologna commissioned by Pope Nicholas V and now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna. Vivarini worked throughout the East coast of Italy, including in Apulia and in the Marches. But it was in the Veneto where he enjoyed the most success, particularly in the 1460s and 1470s.

This full-length Saint Catherine, most probably originally from the lower section of a tiered polyptych much like the aforementioned Bologna polyptych, would have flanked a central panel which depicted the Madonna and Child. The work is typical of the artist in the 1470s, with its strong outlines and a landscape discretely alluded to.

The painting formed part of the collection of Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, the only son of Prince Alfons of Bavaria and his wife Princess Louise Victoire d'Orléans-Alençon. Prince Joseph was an accomplished art historian and held a number of respected social titles. The Prince was a member of the Royal House of Wittelsbach, a Grand Prior of the Bavarian Order of Saint George, and a Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert.