Bartolomeo Schedoni

Possibly Prince Cesare Ignazio d'Este by 1685;
Probably Count Karl Josef Firmian  (1716-1782), Austrian Governor General of Milan;
Speck von Sternburg, Lutzchena, Leipzig, Germany, 1889;
Private Collection, Frankfurt-am-Main;
Private Collection, Würzburg, by October 1968;
Private Collection, Germany;
From whom acquired by Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London;
From whom acquired by the present owner.

Probably Milan, Monastero di San Ambrogio Maggiore, on view as part of the Gabinetto Firmiano, 1782, described in the catalogue, p. XXXVIII.

G. Tiraboschi, Notizie de Pittori, Scultori, Incisori e Architetti, Modena 1786, p. 319;
G. Gizzardi and G. Tomba, Le Opera di ... pitture eseguite nelle sale dell'ill.ma comunita di Modena da ... Bartolomeo Schedoni, Modena 1823, p. XXXII;
C. Galvani, Della vita e delle opere di Bartolomeo Schedoni, pittore modenese estratta dalle opere di Guido Mazzoni ed Antonio Begarelli, Modena 1826, p. 21;
Inventory of the Speck von Sternburg Collection, p. 64, no. 74;
F. Harck, "Quadri di Maestri Italiani nelle Gallerie private di Germania," Archivio Storico dell'Arte, vol. III, 1890, p. 174;
V. Moschini, "Schedoni," L'Arte, vol. XXX, 1927, p. 143;
Weltkunst, vol. XXXVIII, no. 20, 1968, p. 963;
R. Kulzen, "Variationen über das Thema der Heiligen Familie die Bartolomeo Schedoni," Münchener Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, Series III, vol. XXI, 1970, pp. 167-179, reproduced, pl. 12 and 13;
G. Melzi d'Eril, "Una collezione milanese sotto il regno di Maria Teresa: la Galleria Firmian," Bergomum, 1971, p. 77, no. 109;
F. Dallasta, "Dipinti sconosciuti di Bartolomeo Schedoni," Aurea Parma, LXXVI, I, 1992, p. 70;
B. Negro, "Bartolomeo Schedoni," La Scuola dei Carracci: Dall'accademia alla bottega di Ludovico, Modena 1994, p. 246;
M. Utili, La Collezione Farnese. La scuola emiliana: i dipinti. I disegni, Naples 1994, p. 237;
F. Dallasta, "I Farnese ed i pittori a Parma dal 1545 al 1662 attraverso documenti d'archivio," Aurea Parma, LXXIX, I-II, 1995, p. 142;
S. Loire, Louvre. École italienne, XVII siècle I. Bologna, Paris 1996, p. 333;
F. Dallasta and C. Cecchinelli, Bartolomeo Schedoni. Pittore Emiliano, Parma 1999, pp. 131-133, no. 34.2, reproduced fig. 34.B;
E. Negro and N. Roio, Bartolomeo Schedoni, Modena 2000, p. 101, cat. no. 47.2, reproduced p. 102.

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 oil on panel has two battens running horizontally on the reverse at the top and the bottom. The panel has an uneven crack in the lower left beginning on the lower left edge and entering into the picture approximately three and a half inches, but the remainder of the surface and paint layer seems to be undisturbed. The painting has been restored and should be hung as is. The paint layer itself is in lovely state. There are a few retouches on the left side of Christ's torso and in his forehead. These retouches extend into the lower left hand corner. In the remainder of the painting, although it is very hard to identify retouching under the ultraviolet light, it seems that there are only a few small spots in the sky. Not only is the condition excellent but the restoration is fine as well.
"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 exquisite panel has been identified by Kultzen¹ as the second of two such compositions recorded in the 1685 collection of Cesare Ignazio d'Este, and later in the collection of Count Karl Josef Firmian, Austrian Governor General to Milan.  The present work is of exceptional quality - its inventive composition is perfectly balanced, conveying the tranquility of the scene, and it exudes warmth through Schedoni's use of ethereal light and Correggesque colors.

Two versions of the present composition exist, the other now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.²  Though compositionally the two are comparable, there are a number of marked stylistic variances: the drawing of the figures and drapery in the present panel is more angular and the contouring more defined; Saint Joseph's hand has been shifted to the top of the book in a display of impeccable foreshortening; and the angel is now turned in profile to show sharper and more refined features.  Furthermore, the scheme of light is intensified and the contrast more acute.  The light falls from left to right, bathing the Christ child, and causing a play of shadows across the picture, softening the faces of the Madonna and Saint Joseph and creating a pleasing sfumato effect.³  Utili notes the development of these luminescent contrasts as a signifier of Schedoni's mature phase.⁴  The Rest on the Flight into Egypt shows strong influence of the innovations of Ludovico Carracci and this stylistic progression, utilizing preternatural light and crisper forms, has led to a possible dating of 1613-1614, three to fours years after the execution of the Neapolitan panel.⁵

In both versions, Dallasta and Cecchini have connected the treatment of Saint Joseph, with his rapt expression and balding head, to that in the Holy Family painted for the Capuccin convent in Fontevivo (now in the Museo di Capodimonte collection, Naples).⁶  The profile view of the Virgin, her head tilted downwards, appears to be derived from Correggio's Gypsy and the Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, both originally in the Farnese collection (now in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples).  The pose of the Virgin recurs also in Schedoni's Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Francis of Assisi, now in the Pinacoteca di Brera and in Charity, now in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.⁷

The son of a mask maker for the Farnese and Este courts, Schedoni's precocity as a painter was recognized by Ranuccio I, Duke of Parma, who sent him to Rome to train under Federico Zuccaro.  In the Farnese archives a letter survives from Zuccaro to the Duke dated 1595, informing him that his student was to return to Parma for convalescence due to "una malatia che accenna lunghezza."⁸ Schedoni's early work shows little of his Roman master's influence, instead he appears to have drawn his inspiration from within Emilia, most notably from studying the work of Correggio and later of Lodovico Carracci in Parma.  Following his banishment for an altercation with Aurelio Foghetti in 1600, Schedoni was employed by the Court of Cesare d'Este in Modena where he worked for seven years.⁹  In December 1607, however, the artist returned to favor and was accepted once more by the Court of Rannuccio I as the Duke's favorite painter.¹⁰  By 1611 Schedoni's work was so highly esteemed that the Duke decreed no painting by his hand should be allowed to leave the city. Receipts and records from the Farnese collection show that at the time the present panel was executed, the artist was working almost exclusively for Rannuccio I.  It seems for the rest of his career Schedoni rarely left his native province, though limitless access to the Farnese and d'Este collections ensured he was mindful of the advances of artists beyond Emilia and his work remained innovative until his death in 1615. 

1.  R. Kultzen, "Variationen uber das Thema der heiligen Familie bei Bartolomeo Schedoni," in Munchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, 21, 1970.
2.  F. Dallasta and C. Cecchinelli, Bartolomeo Schedoni. Pittore Emiliano, Parma 1999, pp. 131-132, reproduced fig. 34.A
3.  Ibid.
4.  M. Utili, La Collezione Farnese.  La scuola emiliana: I dipinti. I disegni.  Naples 1994, p. 237.
5.  F. Dallasta and C. Cecchinelli, op. cit.,  p. 132.
6.  Ibid.
7.  Ibid.
8.  D. Miller, "A Roman Sojourn of Bartolomeo Schedone and other documents relative to the early phase of his Career," in Burlington Magazine, no. 847, vol. 115, London 1973, p. 650. translates: "an illness that may be long"
9.  D. Miller, op. cit., p. 651.
10.  Ibid.