Arcangelo di Jacopo del Sellaio

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This picture presents very nicely, with saturated colors, fine mordant gold embellishments, and well-preserved glazes such as the red lakes in the garments. Recent restoration is clearly visible under ultraviolet illumination while further retouching appears to lie beneath the strongly fluorescing natural resin varnish. The most recent retouching campaign addresses scattered pinpoint losses, minor losses, and a crack on the left that extends through the angel; the contours in the female saint are reinforced. The gold halos have some wear. The vertically grained wood panel support has a very mild convex lateral warp and retains its original gessoed surface on the verso.
"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."

Son of the celebrated painter Jacopo del Sellaio (see lot 123), Arcangelo took over the family workshop at the age of sixteen, following his father’s death in 1493.  Arcangelo assimilated Jacopo’s style and, eschewing the more mannerist tendencies of his contemporaries, adopted a deliberately archaic approach to painting.  In 1996, Nicoletta Pons recognised Arcangelo di Jacopo Sellaio as the author of a group of paintings gathered under the name "Master of the Miller Tondo", after a panel in the Harvard Art Museums, Boston, donated by Adolph Caspar Miller (fig. 1).¹

We are grateful to Nicoletta Pons for suggesting the attribution on the basis of photographs.

 

1.  N. Pons, “Arcangelo di Jacopo del Sellaio”, in Arte Cristiana, 84, no. 776, Sept. – Oct. 1996, pp. 347 – 388.