Giovan Bernardo Lama

In overall good condition. The panel, which is slightly bowed, appears to be formed of two vertical planks, supported by two horizontal batons. The paint surface is clean and the varnish is clear and slightly uneven. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals some strengthening to the embroidery in Christ's robe, and on the decorative inside of the Madonna's blue robe. There are small, scattered retouchings in the background, in Christ's face, and in the Madonna's white veil, as well as in her hand and breast. There are slightly larger areas of retouching in her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her cheek and neck. Offered in a carved and gilt wood frame with minor losses.
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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."

Although usually a painter of grand public works Lama's beautifully preserved and vividly coloured Madonna and Child is typical of his more intimate commissions produced for private patrons.  The composition relates closely to two panels which Leone de Castris dates to late in the artist's career, from the late 1580s and 1590s; the first is in the collection in the Musei Vaticani, Rome, and the second is listed as in a private collection, Naples.¹ The figure of the Madonna in these paintings appear to be a loose redaction of that in one of his most famous compositions, the Deposition in the church of SS. Severino e Sossio, Naples (dated to the 1580s)² which the artist seemingly reinterpreted for these smaller scale devotional compositions.

We are grateful to Professore Pierluigi Leone de Castris for confirming the attribution of the present work to Lama on the basis of photographs.

1. See P. Leone de Castris, Pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli 1540-1573, Naples 1996, p. 260; for illustrations of the related group, see p. 268.
2. See P. Leone de Castris, Pittura del Cinquecento a Napoli 1573-1606, L’ultima maniera, Naples 1991, p. 27.