- 15
Attributed to Tino di Camaino (circa 1280-circa 1337) Italian, probably 14th century
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Relief with the Virgin and Child
- marble
- Attributed to Tino di Camaino (circa 1280-circa 1337) Italian, probably 14th century
Provenance
Sotheby’s New York, 30 September 2004, lot 9;
Doyle, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 133
Doyle, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 133
Condition
Overall the condition of the marble is very good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is brownish staining to the marble throughout. The surface of the carving appears highly polished, and it is possible that it has been treated with wax or a similar substance. There are a few small losses, notably to three of the points of the Virgin's crown. There are several minor abrasions, in particular to the outer moulding. There are also several small chips to the edges and corners, in particular at the pointed top and the left corners. There is some veining to the marble, consistent with the material, notably at the bottom of the composition. There is an area of retouching to some of the drapery and the moulding below the Christ Child, apparently to conceal a slightly open vein. There is minor rubbing at the high points. There are two areas with slightly corroded metal fill to the top and bottom at the back.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Together with a number of near-identical versions, the present relief signifies a fascinating phenomenon in the study of Italian Gothic sculpture. Attributed to Tino di Camaino, this group of reliefs represents a seemingly unique case in which an Italian medieval stone sculptor appears to have produced several identical examples of the same, beautiful composition.
The relief depicts a tender vignette of the Virgin and Child. Gazing at her Child, the crowned Virgin supports Him with her left hand, while offering a bunch of grapes or berries with her right. Meeting the gaze of His mother, the Child clutches a robin, which appears to enclose one of His fingers with its beak. The relief is composed in relatively small dimensions and features a gabled design at the top, which neatly frames the figures.
At least four examples of the composition are presently recorded with certainty: one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A.31-1964); a second in the Hyde Collection, New York (inv. no. 1971.101); a third sold at Thomaston Place, 24 August 2013, lot 324; and, finally, the present relief. A few other examples have been mentioned in the scholarship – including ones in private collections in Virginia and Italy (see Fremi, op. cit., p. 147), but it is likely that at least some of these are duplicates of the above-mentioned examples. All known versions are compositionally and stylistically near-identical, with only very minor variations in the quality of the carving; however, notably, in the V&A example the bottom corners have been cut. The recorded provenance of the known reliefs does not extend beyond the early 20th century, with the V&A relief being that which was first published, in 1923, and again in 1935, by Wilhelm Valentiner (op. cit.).
The most recent scholarly summary of the reliefs was provided by Giovanni Fremi within the context of the Hyde Collection example (op. cit.), whose attribution to Tino di Camaino has been retained. Listing three (or, tentatively, four) of the known versions, Fremi remarks upon the singularity of the existence of such identical reliefs in medieval sculpture, which ‘raises the question of whether all panels are works by Tino and his workshop or whether some may be the work of a highly skilled modern copyist’ (op. cit., p. 147). While the V&A example has sometimes been discussed as the prototype, this is not necessarily supported by the visual evidence, which shows a similar level of quality among the known reliefs.
Despite the remaining questions over the group, the authorship of Tino di Camaino, and possibly his workshop, has been upheld by several scholars, including Francesca Baldelli (in the context of the V&A and Hyde examples, see op. cit., p. 385). Stylistically the reliefs compare convincingly to works from Tino’s late period around 1330, when he was active in Naples. An itinerant sculptor, Tino di Camaino received commissions from important noble patrons, having established his reputation as primarily a master in tomb sculpture. Following his early activity in Siena and Pisa, where he executed significant ecclesiastical and sepulchral monuments, Tino went to Naples in the 1320s, summoned by the House of Anjou. It was here, around 1335, that he would have executed the small-scale relief of the Madonna and Child with Queen Sancia, Saints and Angels, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (inv. no. 1960.51), which provides a close stylistic and conceptual comparison for the present composition. An even closer parallel is found in a now fragmented relief with the Virgin and Child in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (Baldelli, op. cit., figs. 470-471), which is analogous not only in its closely related composition, but in the particular appearance of the Christ Child, and the busy, angular drapery. Further comparison can be made with a triptych in a private collection (ibid., fig. 478), and a small relief with the Virgin and Child in Galatina (ibid., fig. 475).
The presumed production of a number of identical reliefs of the Virgin and Child in Tino’s workshop is perhaps not so surprising in the light of a new interest in intimate depictions of the Virgin and Child, and the existence of other small-scale works from Tino’s late period, no doubt intended for private devotion. It has been argued by Gert Kreytenberg (as summarised by Fremi, op. cit., p. 147) that these emulated contemporary Sienese paintings, which were produced for the same context. A plausible explanation would therefore be that this proved a particularly successful composition which, meeting this new demand, was executed for a number of private patrons. The future direction of the scholarship on this matter, and whether multiple versions of other compositions by Tino will come to light, should be anticipated with interest.
RELATED LITERATURE
W. R. Valentiner, Tino di Camaino: A Sienese Sculptor of the Fourteenth Century, Paris, 1935, p. 119 and pl. 56c; F. Baldelli, Tino di Camaino, Morbio Inferiore, 2007, pp. 382-385 and figs.472-479; G. Fremi in J. A. Holladay and S. L. Ward (eds.), Gothic Sculpture in America, III: The Museums of New York and Pennsylvania, New York, 2016, pp. 146-148, no. 84
The relief depicts a tender vignette of the Virgin and Child. Gazing at her Child, the crowned Virgin supports Him with her left hand, while offering a bunch of grapes or berries with her right. Meeting the gaze of His mother, the Child clutches a robin, which appears to enclose one of His fingers with its beak. The relief is composed in relatively small dimensions and features a gabled design at the top, which neatly frames the figures.
At least four examples of the composition are presently recorded with certainty: one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A.31-1964); a second in the Hyde Collection, New York (inv. no. 1971.101); a third sold at Thomaston Place, 24 August 2013, lot 324; and, finally, the present relief. A few other examples have been mentioned in the scholarship – including ones in private collections in Virginia and Italy (see Fremi, op. cit., p. 147), but it is likely that at least some of these are duplicates of the above-mentioned examples. All known versions are compositionally and stylistically near-identical, with only very minor variations in the quality of the carving; however, notably, in the V&A example the bottom corners have been cut. The recorded provenance of the known reliefs does not extend beyond the early 20th century, with the V&A relief being that which was first published, in 1923, and again in 1935, by Wilhelm Valentiner (op. cit.).
The most recent scholarly summary of the reliefs was provided by Giovanni Fremi within the context of the Hyde Collection example (op. cit.), whose attribution to Tino di Camaino has been retained. Listing three (or, tentatively, four) of the known versions, Fremi remarks upon the singularity of the existence of such identical reliefs in medieval sculpture, which ‘raises the question of whether all panels are works by Tino and his workshop or whether some may be the work of a highly skilled modern copyist’ (op. cit., p. 147). While the V&A example has sometimes been discussed as the prototype, this is not necessarily supported by the visual evidence, which shows a similar level of quality among the known reliefs.
Despite the remaining questions over the group, the authorship of Tino di Camaino, and possibly his workshop, has been upheld by several scholars, including Francesca Baldelli (in the context of the V&A and Hyde examples, see op. cit., p. 385). Stylistically the reliefs compare convincingly to works from Tino’s late period around 1330, when he was active in Naples. An itinerant sculptor, Tino di Camaino received commissions from important noble patrons, having established his reputation as primarily a master in tomb sculpture. Following his early activity in Siena and Pisa, where he executed significant ecclesiastical and sepulchral monuments, Tino went to Naples in the 1320s, summoned by the House of Anjou. It was here, around 1335, that he would have executed the small-scale relief of the Madonna and Child with Queen Sancia, Saints and Angels, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington (inv. no. 1960.51), which provides a close stylistic and conceptual comparison for the present composition. An even closer parallel is found in a now fragmented relief with the Virgin and Child in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (Baldelli, op. cit., figs. 470-471), which is analogous not only in its closely related composition, but in the particular appearance of the Christ Child, and the busy, angular drapery. Further comparison can be made with a triptych in a private collection (ibid., fig. 478), and a small relief with the Virgin and Child in Galatina (ibid., fig. 475).
The presumed production of a number of identical reliefs of the Virgin and Child in Tino’s workshop is perhaps not so surprising in the light of a new interest in intimate depictions of the Virgin and Child, and the existence of other small-scale works from Tino’s late period, no doubt intended for private devotion. It has been argued by Gert Kreytenberg (as summarised by Fremi, op. cit., p. 147) that these emulated contemporary Sienese paintings, which were produced for the same context. A plausible explanation would therefore be that this proved a particularly successful composition which, meeting this new demand, was executed for a number of private patrons. The future direction of the scholarship on this matter, and whether multiple versions of other compositions by Tino will come to light, should be anticipated with interest.
RELATED LITERATURE
W. R. Valentiner, Tino di Camaino: A Sienese Sculptor of the Fourteenth Century, Paris, 1935, p. 119 and pl. 56c; F. Baldelli, Tino di Camaino, Morbio Inferiore, 2007, pp. 382-385 and figs.472-479; G. Fremi in J. A. Holladay and S. L. Ward (eds.), Gothic Sculpture in America, III: The Museums of New York and Pennsylvania, New York, 2016, pp. 146-148, no. 84