Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino

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. The panel has been thinned, mounted and cradled. The paint layer is now stable and the paint layer is flat. The painting is noticeably dull and dirty. Discolored retouches addressing a crack are visible running vertically about 1 ½ inches into the composition from the left edge; these discolorations are in the hair of Christ and in the right bicep and hair of St. John. There is another old crack which runs into the hair of the Madonna which has also attracted restorations. There are presumably other restorations from an earlier period, but they will only become more apparent if and when the picture is cleaned. Under ultraviolet light, only the restorations mentioned above and a spot or two in the upper left of the gilding are visible.
"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."

The paintings of this anonymous artist do not, in fact, resemble those of Pier Francesco Fiorentino, but rather follow models by Pesellino and Filippo Lippi.  As with the majority of his oeuvre, this work does not repeat a known composition by Lippi, but rather is a pastiche, combining a number of templates by that artist.