Workshop of the Zavattari Family

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 pair of small depictions of saints is in sound condition with relatively recent restoration. Overall, Saint John the Evangelist is in a somewhat better state of preservation than Saint Andrew, perhaps due to the relative inherent resiliencies of the pigments used. In both pictures the backgrounds are worn, with much of the gold ground rubbed away; in order to impart a quiet appearance to the background, worn areas have been toned with an orange-red paint matching the bole beneath the gold. In the Saint John the Evangelist panel, restoration includes retouching of scattered, moderately-sized losses in the green garment, along the side of the cross towards the bottom, and in the upper right edge of the saint's hair. Restoration glazes appear to have been applied to heighten the tone and depth of shading. Restoration found in the Saint Andrew panel addresses the greater degree of general wear, particularly in the blue and red garments. Restoration glazes appear to have been applied to strengthen modeling in both the flesh and garments, and to reinforce contours. Each picture's support has been thinned and attached to a 6mm thick piece of plywood. Both are planar and display a moderately glossy and even varnish.
"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."

These two small panels were recognized by Miklós Boskovits as having once formed part of a long predella, published by him in 1988, with Christ at the center and half-length depictions of the apostles at either side.¹  In addition to the present saints, seven other panels have been identified: the Christ Blessing, formerly in the Guy Grieten collection, Brussels; St. Peter and Two Apostles, in the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgaart (inv. no. 3116); Saint James Major, Saint Bartholomew and another Saint, in a private collection, Milan.  Boskovits proposed that the predella may have belonged to the same dismantled polyptych as four lateral saints from the workshop: the Saint John the Baptist and Saint Michael, in the Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona (inv. nos. 735 and 736); the Saint George, formerly in the Willczek collection, Kreuzenstein, Vienna; and the Saint Catherine, in a private collection.  He also identified a Christ as the Man of Sorrows, in the Walraff-Richartz Museum, Cologne (inv. no. 748) as likely having surmounted the central panel.

1.  For the dismembered polyptych see M. Boskovits, in Arte in Lombardia tra Gotico e Rinascimento, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1988, pp. 170-172.