SPINELLO DI LUCA SPINELLI, CALLED SPINELLO ARETINO | Virgin of the Annunciation

Milan, either in a private collection or with a dealer between 1910–69 (as per Weppelmann 2011, see Literature);
Leo N. Malmedé, Cologne, by 1963, from whom acquired in August 1963 by
Prof. Dr. Alfred Stange (1894–1968), Tutzing and Munich;
Thence by descent until anonymously sold, Hamburg, Rother Baum, 24 February 2018, lot 1000.

W. Angelelli and A.G. De Marchi, Pittura dal Duecento al primo Cinquecento nelle fotografie di Girolamo Bombelli, Milan 1991, p. 260, cat. no. 550, reproduced;
S. Weppelmann, Spinello Aretino und die toskanische Malerei des 14. Jahrhunderts, Florence 2003, p. 263, cat. no. 62, reproduced;
S. Weppelmann, 'Compianto su Cristo morto', in D. Parenti and A. Tartuferi (eds), Lorenzo Monaco, Dalla tradizione giottesca al Rinascimento, exh. cat., Florence 2006, p. 142, under cat. no. 14;
S. Weppelmann, 'Florentine Painting around 1400. A question of standard?', in F. Pasut and J. Tripps (eds), Da Giotto a Botticelli, Pittura fiorentina tra Gotico e Rinascimento, Florence 2008, p. 142, note 27;
S. Weppelmann, Spinello Aretino e la pittura del Trecento in Toscana, Florence 2011, p. 272, cat. no. 62, reproduced.

The panel is flat and stable and the paint surface is very abraded, as is the gilding. The blue of the Madonna's robe has oxidised, and her flesh tones and hair have been retouched. There is a small area of loss in the hem of her robe below the book. The lobed cusping around the upper edge of the panel appears to be integral but the rest of the frame is engaged.
"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 Angelelli and De Marchi 1991 (see Literature) it is noted that the attribution of this intimate panel, depicting the Madonna Annunciate, to the great master of Tuscan quattrocento painting, Spinello Aretino, was supported by an oral communication from Filippo Todini. In a handwritten note dated 11 October 1958, Roberto Longhi also endorsed the attribution of this panel to Spinello, in his full maturity, and noted its similarities with the frescos in the sacristy of the Church of San Miniato al Monte, Florence. Weppelmann dates the painting to around 1395 and notes the probability that it was originally part of a larger polyptych, of which the central panel and three predella panels are known: one predella panel depicts the Lamentation¹ and a second shows the Adoration of the Magi.² The third predella painting, showing the Nativity, is currently in a private collection in Genoa, while the central painting, a Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints, is housed in the Bucknell University Art Museum in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.³


NOTE ON PROVENANCE

The German art historian Prof. Dr. Alfred Stange, resident in Tutzing and Munich, acquired this Madonna Annunciate in August 1963. Prof. Stange was one of the leading German experts on gothic painting at that time. Between 1934 and 1961 he wrote the eleven-volume work Deutsche Malerei der Gotik.

1 Sold, Christie's, London, 5 July 2011, for £713,250.
2 Sold, Sotheby's, London, 6 December 2017, for £125,000.
3 See Weppelmann 2008, p. 132, reproduced fig. 10.