Francesco Cairo

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 work has been restored and should be hung in its current state. Small spots of retouching are visible here and there under ultraviolet light, as is expected for a work of this period. There is also a line of retouches running through the work, which may address a cut or scratch in the canvas, or perhaps an original join. This line runs vertically from the center of the top edge into the cloth above her left shoulder, horizontally across into the tree trunk in the upper right, and diagonally down to the lower right edge. The exact reason for this line of retouches is unknown, but the restoration is quite competently applied, and it does not interfere with the figure.
"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."

We are grateful to Francesco Frangi who confirms the attribution to Cairo, on the basis of photographs.  He dates it to the second half of the 1640s.