喬瓦尼‧巴蒂斯塔‧薩爾維－或稱為薩索費拉托

Major William B. Howard;
Bishop Dr. Johann Török, New York;
By whose descendant anonymously sold, London, Sotheby's, 8 July 1999, lot 195;
Where purchased by the present collector. 

Baltimore, Museum of Art, on loan.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is in very good condition. The canvas has an old lining, which is still actively supporting the paint layer. The work seems to be clean. Although there are a few retouches in the lower left and across the bottom edge, the remainder of the work shows a paint layer in very good condition with hardly any retouches at all.
"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."

Giovanni Battista Salvi was known by the name of his town of birth, Sassoferrato, and was primarily active in nearby Urbino and other central Italian cities.  In Rome he studied the works of his contemporaries Domenichino, Reni, and the Carracci, but his greatest influence was Raphael, and a number of Sassoferrato's compositions derive from the Renaissance master's paintings. 

Other than a few public commissions and portraits, Sassoferrato mainly painted small devotional pictures for private clients.  The Counter Reformation's increased emphasis on veneration of the Virgin and the Marian cult meant Sassoferrato's intense and moving depictions of the Madonna were much in demand.  The Madonna in the midst of quiet prayer was one of his most celebrated subjects and he returned to it many times throughout his career.  Sassoferrato would vary the details of his Madonnas in the drapery, the tilt of the head, the facial experssions, and the hair.  There are about fifteen versions of this composition, some depicting the Madonna in half lentgh, with her arms fully visible, and some, as in the present work, showing her in bus length.  

We are grateful to M. François Macé de Lépinay for his assistance in the cataloguing of this painting.