柯西《耶穌被釘十字架》畫師

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 16 March 1966, lot 9 (as Pacino di Buonaguida, sold at that time with a certificate from Roberto Longhi).

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. Commensurate with the age of this small, fine panel, some wear is evident. Abrasion to the water gilding reveals the red bole; scattered minor dents and wear are also found throughout the gilded passages. Old losses, some of which have been retouched, as well as abrasion are visible in the paint film, particularly in the red garment of the central figure. In the Virgin's mantle it is likely some darkening has developed in the blue paint. Some retouching is apparent, but does not appear to be extensive. The craquelure is consistent with the age and materials of the work. The natural resin varnish displays a high level of gloss. The softwood panel has an original engaged frame. The panel is slightly warped across the horizontal direction, and some worm tunneling is visible on the reverse. Filling and regilding can be seen around the edges, as well as losses to the red paint of the outer molding. Although the picture may be displayed in its current condition, a less reflective varnish and the mitigation of some dark areas of old damage could accentuate the fine details of the picture's execution, notably the emotive gestures and expressions.
"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."

This unpublished crucifixion scene was identified by Andrea De Marchi as the work of the Master of the Corsi Crucifix, a highly individual painter, working in Florence in the first quarter of the 14th century, in the immediate wake of Giotto.  De Marchi dates this panel to before 1330 and such is the quality of its execution, that Roberto Longhi had previously considered the painting to be by Pacino da Buonaguida (see Provenance).  While the Master of the Corsi Crucifix remains as yet anonymous, his rich and unique style is instantly recognizable, setting him apart from other Florentine hands.  Richard Offner named the master after a painted cross which he published in 1931 (fig. 1), at that time in the Corsi collection and now in a private collection, Florence.¹  Offner published the cross alongside another in the Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence, grouping them under the same name.²  He described the painter as “a master of dramatic talent” and considered him to relate very closely to the Master of Saint Cecilia, an assistant in Giotto’s Florentine workshop.³  Offner’s praise of the Master of the Corsi Crucifix is well founded.  Not only are his figures beautifully conceived, they are intensely expressive, conveying the pathos of the scene in a convincing yet understated manner.   Saint John the Evangelist is painted here with a miniaturist’s precision, his face contorted with anguish, his fingers clenched in his curling hair.  

Offner dated the Corsi and the Accademia crosses to no later than 1325, a premise later refined by Miklós Boskovits in 1984, who suggested their most likely date of execution to be circa 1315.⁴  Luisa Marcucci found the artist’s style close to that of a series of frescoes in the chapel of San Jacopo in Badia di Settimo, near Florence.  On that basis, she offered an identification of the Master of the Corsi Crucifix to their author, the young Buonamico Buffalmacco, though this suggestion does not appear to have been upheld by more recent scholarship.⁵  Boskovits instead offered an alternative hypothesis.  Comparing works by the Master of the Corsi Crucifix with those by the so-called Master of the Cappella dei Veluti, he tentatively proposed the two painters might be one and the same, a suggestion Angelo Tartuferi agrees should be pursued further.⁶

We are grateful to Andrea De Marchi for suggesting the attribution on the basis of photographs and to Laurence Kanter for endorsing it upon firsthand inspection.

 

1.  R. Offner, A Cristical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting, The fourteenth century, section III, sec. III, vol. I, p. 56 – 57.
2.  R. Offner, Corpus of Florentine Painting, The fourteenth century, sec. III, vol. I, Florence 1986, pp. 188 - 191.
3.  Ibid., p. 187. 
4.  M. Boskovits, “The Painters of the Miniaturist Tendency”, in Corpus of Florentine Painting, sec. III, vol. IX, Florence 1984, pp. 21 – 22, 149.
5.  L. Marcucci, Galerie Nazionali di Firenze, I dipinti toscani del secolo XIV, Rome 1965, p. 26; A. Tartuferi in, Moretti: Dalla tradizione gotica al primo rinascimento, Florence 2009, pp. 18.
6.  M. Boskovits, op. cit.; A. Tartuferi, op. cit.