Giovanni Battista Salvi, called Sassoferrato

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 is in very good condition. It has not recently been restored. It is fairly dirty. The retouches are discolored and visible to the naked eye. The canvas has an old lining which still seems to be useful. The only damages of any note are in the neck of the Madonna, where there is a vertical line of retouches and one loss in the center of her throat. The retouches elsewhere are all focused on a few cracks and small spots. Careful cleaning might eliminate the need for many of these retouches. Although the lining creates a slightly rough texture to the surface, this is not unattractive. A new lining would not necessarily improve the surface.
"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."

This composition of the Madonna gently caressing the sleeping Christ Child was one of the artist’s favorites.  The design appears to have originated with Guido Reni and, though no painting of the composition by Reni survives, it is known through contemporary engravings.¹  Sassoferrato's composition is known in numerous variations, with and without the inclusion of the heads of putti in the background, and some of which are in horizontal format.  The present example also includes rays of light around the central figures.  A very close variant of this composition was sold in these Rooms, 16 May 1996, lot 52 (oil on canvas, 74.9 by 60.3 cm.).

We are grateful to François Macé de Lépinay for confirming the present painting to be a work by Sassoferrato, on the basis of photographs.

1.  See The Illustrated Bartsch, Italian Masters of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. 40 (Commentary, Part 1), formerly vol. 18 (Part 2), New York 1987, pp. 330-7, especially no. 30 C1, reproduced p. 330.