Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Day Auction

Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Day Auction

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 134. The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, in a mannerist architectural frame inset with donor portraits.

Attributed to Ventura Salimbeni

The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, in a mannerist architectural frame inset with donor portraits

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Attributed to Ventura Salimbeni

Siena 1568–1613

The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, in a mannerist architectural frame inset with donor portraits


oil on canvas

unframed: 58.4 x 52 cm.; 23 x 20½ in.

framed: 68.1 x 61.8 cm.; 26¾ x 24⅜ in.

Anonymous sale, Genoa, Wannenes, 21 December 2020, lot 1017;

Where acquired by the present owner.

The architectural frame that here surrounds the depiction of the Virgin, the Christ Child and the infant Saint John the Baptist, an exercise in trompe-l'œil, may have been inspired by the Piccolomini Altarpiece in Siena Cathedral, built around 1481–86 by Andrea Bregno (1418–1506) and Pietro Torrigiano (1472–1528). Four niche sculptures of Saints Peter, Augustine, Paul and Gregory were later added between 1501 and 1504 by the young Michelangelo (1475–1564).


We are grateful to Dott. Marco Ciampolini for proposing the attribution to Ventura Salimbeni on the basis of digital images.