ATTRIBUTED TO JAUME FERRER I | Ecco Homo, flanked by six saints

This exemplary gold ground is an impressive banco attributed to the Catalan artist Jaume Ferrer I, an important artist of the first stage of the international gothic style in Lérida and father of the great artist of that city's next generation, Jaume Ferrer II (documented in Barcelona, Verdú and Lérida from 1430-1461). 

Recently, a group of scholars including Francesc Ruiz i Quesada, has reexamined the oeuvre of Ferrer I and alternatively attributed the group of paintings to the Catalan artist Pere Teixidor (Documented in Barcelona and Lérida 1397 – 1446). The relationship between Teixidor and Ferrer is complex and has sparked much discussion amongst scholars. For further information and comparative works attributed to Teixidor, see R. Cornudella, Catalunya 1400, el gòtic internacional, Barcelona 2012, pp. 182-185, 220-21, cat. nos. 29, 30 and 41. 

We are grateful to Francesc Ruiz i Quesada and Antoni José Pitarch for their independent assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.  Pitarch believes the work to be attributable to Ferrer I, while Quesada attributes the group to Pere Teixidor.

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. Overall the painting is in good condition. The support is a single horizontally grained board that has been extended in height at the top. The original painted surface ends at the top of the figures' heads, and the composition and gilding has been continued to the top of the addition. It is entirely possible this banco originally had a second board of unknown height as otherwise the cropping would be rather cramped. The bottom inch of the picture is also a modern extension of the imagery; here it is more likely that a plain or patterned painted border ran across the width or that the edge was covered with gilded tracery. The paint layers are quite well preserved and little retouching appears to exist in the figures. Mild cupping following the age-related craquelure is typical for paintings of this time and place of origin. A horizontal branched crack with evidence of past consolidation crosses through the two right-most saints. A large loss in the second saint from the right, corresponding to her attribute, may have been executed in a raised, gilded technique. The painting is covered with a discolored varnish and a heavy layer of dirt and grime. The painting would benefit from cleaning and restoration, which would improve the overall appearance, brightening the tonality and improving the contrast. The painting may be displayed in its current state if desired.
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