Vincenzo Catena

Private collection, England;
With John Levy Galleries, New York, November 1927;
There acquired by Chester D. Tripp, Chicago and London, in 1929;
By whom gifted to The Art Institute of Chicago in 1964 (inv. no. 1964.1169).

Art News, 1927, XXVI, no. 5, reproduced p. 7;
The Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report 1964-65, Chicago, 1965;
J. Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago, London, 1970, p. 251;
B.B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1972, pp. 49, 327, 571;
Chicago Tribune Magazine, 22 December 1974, reproduced on the cover;
F. Heinemann, Giovanni Bellini e i Belliniani, Hildesheim, 1991, III, p. 6, no. 43x and p. 107 (as Vincenzo di Girolamo);
C. Lloyd, Italian Paintings before 1600 in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Collection, Chicago, 1993, pp. 62-64, reproduced p. 63;
A. Tempestini, "La 'Sacra Conversazione' nella pittura veneta dal 1500 al 1516" in La pittura nel Veneto: Il Cinquecento, Milan, 1999, III, p. 941, figs. 1007, 1008.

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 painting has been cleaned in the recent past and displays a bright, high key tonality. The restoration does not match the surrounding original paint, as can be seen in the catalog photograph. Horizontal passages of restoration address losses, some of which correspond to joins and old, repaired cracks in the wood panel support. Much of the retouching in the flesh passages aims at knitting together extensive rubbing, although the restoration in the face of the female saint may deal with more complete losses. Flaking with scattered small losses has developed in the face of the saint. A hairline crack visible from the front runs from the right edge to the left side of the Madonna. The varnish is clear with an even gloss. The horizontally grained wood panel support has been thinned and a mahogany cradle attached to the reverse. The panel is planar. Flaking paint should be stabilized to prevent further losses. The discolored restoration could be corrected with additional retouching.
"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."

An early work by the Venetian artist Vincenzo Catena, this panel has been consistently dated by scholars to 1500-1510. The influence of Bellini is evident throughout the work, particularly in the use of the parapet separating the figures from the viewer and the size and weight of the figures, accentuated by the stiff fabrics of their voluminous drapery. 

A second version of the painting was sold at Christie's London, 5 July 2011.¹ Though the composition of the figures is nearly identical, the two panels differ in the coloring of the robes on both the Madonna and the female saint, the details in the landscape, and the addition of the ledge with the book in the present picture. 
1. Oil on panel, 24 5/8 by 33 1/2 cm., sold Christie's London, 5 July 2011, lot 60 for £241,250.