洛倫索·韋內齊亞諾

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 4 April 1973, lot 162 (as Venetian School 1340 - 1350);
Longari collection, Milan;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's 3 July 1996, lot 185 (as attributed to Lorenzo Veneziano);
Where acquired by Banca della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano.

Paris, Musée des Beaux Arts de Touis, Autour de Lorenzo Venéziano: fragments de polyptyques vénetiens du XIV siecle, 23 October 2005 - 23 January 2006, nos. 9A and 9B. 

A. De Marchi, "Una tavola nella Narodna Galeria di Ljubljana e una proposta per Marco di Paolo Veneziano", in Gotika v Sloviniji, Ljubljana 1995, p. 241, note no. 5;
A. De Marchi, in Italies, Peintures des musées de la région centre, exhibition catalogue, Paris 1996, pp. 66 - 67, under cat. no. 11, note 3;
S. Chiodo in C. Beddington (ed.), Galerie Adriano Ribolzi, Monte Carlo, Peintures italianes du XIVe au XVIII siècle, Monte Carlo 1998, p. 66;
A. De Marchi in Restauri e ricerche.  Opere d'arte nelle province di Siracusa e Ragusa, exhibition catalogue, Siracusa 1999, pp. 18 - 23;
A. De Marchi, La Passione secondo Serafino, Piacenza 1999, p. 4;
M. Medica, "Un secolo d'arte a San Giacomo Maggiore", in I corali di San Giacomo Maggiore, Miniatori e committenti a Bologna nel Trecento, exhibition catalogue, Ferrara 2003, 49;
A. De Marchi, "Polyptyques vénetiens. Anamnèse d'une identité méconnue", in Autour de Lorenzo Veneziano, Fragments de Polyptyques vénitiens du XIVe siècle, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo 2005, p. 28 - 29;
C. Guarnieri, "Le polyptyque pour l'église de San Giacomo a Bologne dans l'oeuvre de Lorenzo Veneziano", in Autour de Lorenzo Veneziano, Fragments de Polyptyques vénitiens du XIVe siècle, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo 2005, pp. 112 - 113, cat. nos. 9a-b;
E. Rivaud, "Contribution des examens radiographiques à la reconstitution de retables vénitiens du XVIe siècle", in Autour de Lorenzo Veneziano, Fragments de Polyptyques vénitiens du XIVe siècle, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo 2005, pp. 49 - 50;
C. Guarnieri, Lorenzo Veneziano, Milan 2006, pp. 201 - 202 reproduced p. 151, fig. XL and p. 202.

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. Both panels, recently restored, are in good condition especially in light of their age and having been removed from their original setting. The thick, vertically-grained wood panels display a marked lateral convex warp, unpainted borders that would have been covered by framework and evidence of structural repairs on the back. In the Saint Catherine picture restoration follows repaired grain-oriented cracks: one running through the left edge of the face into the neck, a second passing from above the proper right eye halfway down the panel, and one left of center stretching from the bottom edge up to approximately mid-thigh. Retouching also addresses craquelure in the face, two losses in the neck and scattered small losses, all visible under ultraviolet illumination. Regilding is found in scattered areas of the background. Restoration found in the Saint Sigismund panel is associated with a series of repaired cracks primarily located in the green garment, a loss in the proper left eye, and a crack running along the right edge of the face. As with the accompanying picture, the painted details in the crown are strengthened.
"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."

These striking, full-length saints would originally have formed part of a polyptych, standing alongside other martyred saints to surround a larger central panel depicting the Madonna and Child.  Intensely naturalistic, these graceful figures are of exceptional quality and are entirely in keeping with Lorenzo Veneziano’s mature period.  An artist of remarkable talent, Lorenzo was unequivocally the leading painter in Venice in the second half of the 14th century.  His work was desired as much on the terrafirma as in Venice and, returning from trips beyond the city, he brought with him inspiration from the mainland.  Lorenzo's influence was as significant as it was diffuse, he introduced a naturalism, a fluency of draftmanship and a vitality of figure pose that had never before been seen in Venetian art.  Here, for example, the demure and languid figure of Saint Catherine appears almost to sway before the viewer, while Saint Sigismund’s pose is direct, his spurred feet planted firmly and his gaze determined.  The lyricism of the cascading drapery lines, the naturalism of the yawning folds and the impeccable transitions of shimmering tones are all telling of Lorenzo’s hand.  Great care has been taken in the representation of detail, from the arrangement of folds at Saint Catherine’s feet, to the individual pelts of fur lining Saint Sigismund’s mantel and the tiny buttons fastening it at his shoulder. 

Andrea De Marchi first published the panels in 1995 (see Literature), believing them to be part of the same altarpiece as the Saint Bartholomew and Saint Anthony Abbot in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (inv. no. 226 and 222, figs. 2 and 3).  The male saints were elements of a dismembered complex painted by Lorenzo in 1368 for the high altar at the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna.¹  The Bologna panels have, however, been significantly cut along the lower edge, and are now seen the three-quarter length.  Fortunately, the lower sections of Saint Sigismund and Saint Catherine have survived intact.  The four panels do correspond in width, however; the present panels are very slightly wider, having retained the lateral, unpainted edges, once covered by the framing element.  De Marchi cites parallels in the treatment of the halos, similarly etched with tight flourishes of lobed flowers, the identical placement of the inscriptions, either side of the head, and the mirrored poses of the two sets of figures.²

In her 2006 monograph, however, Cristina Guarnieri questions the relationship between these panels and the San Giacomo Maggiore altarpiece (see Literature).  Guarnieri finds the figures of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Anthony Abbot to be more solid, with fuller faces.  The scholar also notes the halos to be slightly smaller in the present panels, and the punch-work decoration to differ very slightly from that of the Bologna saints.³  X-rays carried out by Elisabeth Ravaud in 2005 revealed traces of canvas along the edges of the Bologna panels (see Literature), intended to conceal the join between the two panels.  When the same tests were carried out on the present panels, canvas was not found to have played a part of their fabrication.  Given these differences, Guarnieri suggests that the Saint Catherine and Saint Sigismund formed part of another polypych.  Though the present panels are of superior pictorial quality, it is possible they were part of a slightly smaller polyptych, similar to the complex in the Museo Provinciale Sigismondo Castromediano, Lecce (fig. 1).

 

1.  C. Guarnieri 2006, under Literature, op. cit., pp. 198 – 199, reproduced p. 149, fig. XXXVIII.
2.  A. De Marchi 1995, op. cit.
3.  C. Guarnieri, op. cit., p. 202.