Attributed to Mirabello Cavalori

French Private Collection, until 1959;
Private Collection, New York by 1992.

L. Mortari, Francesco Salviati, Rome 1992, p. 161, no. 189 (as Attributed to Francesco Salviati)

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 large panel has been thinned and cradled on the reverse. The panel is now flat and the paint layer is stable. It does seem to be in very good condition in many areas. The background, much of the face, and the still life in the lower left are all healthy. The hands show pentimenti here and there, but are clearly very well preserved. In the face, there seems to be some attention to a panel crack that runs vertically through the center of the entire work, running down the bridge of his nose. There are a few retouches beneath the eyes and in the beard. Outside of this, the restoration has been faithful. As is very often the case in works like this, the black colors are less stable and perhaps are less likely to have survived well. While the only retouches visible under ultraviolet light are to the vertical break in the panel, in a few isolated spots in the beard, and elsewhere, there is a very good possibility that beneath an older varnish there is restoration in the black tunic.
"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."

When Mortari published this work in 1992 she praised the high quality of the portrait and called it attributed to Salviati, on account of the disparity between the date on the letter, 1558 (which she read as 1553 or 1559) and the style of the composition, being more in keeping of that artist in the period between 1543  and 1548.  An affinity has since been suggested with the hand of Mirabello Cavalori and, though somewhat larger in scale for that artist, there is a distinct similarity in handling, notably the deliberate exposure of underpaint in the flesh tones.