Andrea Del Sarto

Vergrösserte Ansicht der Kat-Nr: 0104 Nach Andrea del Sarto (Florenz 1486–1530 ebd.) Johannes der Täufer Öl auf Leinwand 94 × 70 cm um 1840/50 Rückseitig bezeichnet: Le petit par Andrea del Sarto / Copie par Louis Bardi / L’’original est dans la Galerie Pitti_Florence_ Tell-A-Friend Question to the expert Order Sheet PDF [108 KB]

Lot Description Andrea del Sarto (Florence 1486-1530) The Madonna and Child oil on panel 35 1/8 x 26¼ in. (89.2 x 66.7 cm.) with the old inventory number '14' and charcoal anatomical sketches (on the reverse) Special Notice VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium. Provenance Clara Winthrop, Boston, by whom bequeathed to the following in the 1930s All Saints Episcopal Church, West Newbery, Mass., U.S.A. 1930s; Sotheby's, New York, 28 January 2000, lot 12. with Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd, Giacomo Algranti Ltd, and Derek Johns Ltd, A Del Sarto Rediscovered, catalogue by P. Matthiesen and B.L. Brown, London, 2001, passim, pls. I, III (infrared reflectogram), IX, XII, XIV (verso) and XV (prior to conservation), when acquired by the present owner. Pre-Lot Text THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN Exhibited Canberra, National Gallery of Australia and Melbourne, Melbourne Museum, Titian to Tiepolo: Three centuries of Italian art, 28 March-6 October 2002 (catalogue note by B.L. Brown). View Lot Notes › This characteristic work of Andrea del Sarto's early maturity was unknown until its emergence in 2000, but was comprehensively examined by Brown and Matthiesen in the 2001 catalogue cited above. Sarto was trained by the most eccentric master of the late quattrocento in Florence, Piero di Cosimo, matriculating as an independent artist in 1508. In a rather fascinating way he reacted against Piero's wayward personality and went on to develop a compellingly naturalistic style of his own, fortified by the example of Leonardo, of Michelangelo and the youthful Raphael, but not least by that of Fra Bartolommeo. With the first five frescoes of 1509-10 in the Chiostrino of Santissima Annunziata, Sarto established a position in the vanguard of Florentine painting. In 1515 he received the first of a long series of payments for the cycle of grisaille frescoes of scenes from the life of the Baptist for the Chiostro dello Scalzo, where he would continue to work until 1527. This panel is of circa 1516-7, and is thus closely contemporary with the most celebrated of all the artist's altarpieces, the Madonna of the Harpies (Florence, Uffizi), which is dated 1517, and followed a series of sophisticated compositions of the Madonna which were evidently widely admired. By comparison with these rather larger panels, this picture is almost deceptively simple in design. The frontal parapet suggests that Sarto was aware of Madonna compositions of the 1460s and 1470s inspired by contemporary reliefs, while the curtains recall his use of these in the earlier, but larger Marriage of the Virgin (Dresden) and the Corsini Madonna (Petworth, Egremont Collection). What is more novel is the immediacy of the picture: we are left in no doubt of the relationship - in every sense - between mother and Child, and the tender way in which the Madonna gives him the physical support which, as we know from the tremulous motion of His left arm, He needs. Until this panel emerged in 2000 the composition was known from a picture in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 4352), and from two studio versions, recorded in the da Pra' collection at Genoa and in the Alba collection, Madrid (reproduced in the 2001 catalogue, figs. 9 and 8), as well as an early copy in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (no.2859, op. cit., fig. 90 and one that was on the Paris art market in 2001 (op. cit., fig 11). John Shearman (Andrea del Sarto, Oxford, 1965, Studio Works, no. 3) initially regarded this as a studio work, although noting the numerous pentiments, but by 1999 regarded this panel as wholly autograph. 1n 1966 Shearman recognised that a drawing of the head of a woman, then in a private collection in Zurich (Shearman, pl. 47a), was related to both the Ottawa picture and to the closely coeval Borghese Madonna (his pl. 51). As Matthiessen and Brown demonstrate (2001 catalogue, pls. V-VIII) both the Madonna under discussion and that at Ottawa were prepared from the same cartoon. There are very numerous differences and distinctions between the two: these were analysed in 2001, and some in particular call for notice here: the parapet is deeper in the Ottawa picture in which the Virgin's right hand is raised a little; her cheek is perhaps thinner in that work; but by drawing back the Child's left arm in this panel, so that the fall of the right arm seems more rational, the design gains in legibility. Sarto was from early in his career an artist who was interested not only in working out compositions but in subtly reworking these. A celebrated earlier example is the Holy Family, or more precisely Madonna and Child with Saint Elizabeth and the Infant Baptist: while the relationship of the Munich and Louvre versions, both autograph, has been much discussed, less attention has been paid to the admittedly less well preserved panel at Petworth, which is, if anything, superior to that in Paris. Numerous other examples of Sarto's multiple use of cartoons can be cited, and we have to accept that his personal path to perfection meant that he was always prepared to revise and reconsider ideas, even when designing a major altarpiece such as the second of his great Assumptions, which can be compared so readily with its prototype that hangs opposite this in the Pitti. The evidence of the revisions to this Madonna and that at Ottawa and of the distinctions in composition between these can only imply that Sarto worked simultaneously on both. Where the two Madonnas differ most radically is in colour. Sarto was deeply interested in colour, and the completely different chromatic range of the two pictures is highly instructive. The curtains in both pictures are a deep green, but at Ottawa the Virgin's dress is a pale pink, her mantle a more conventional rich blue and her headdress a strong yellow, pinkish in shadow. In this Madonna, the dress is the iconographically correct red - and more of this is very deliberately shown - the mantle a marvellous blue that is touched with green, while the veil - not that this is used as such - is a clear cornflower blue that brilliantly answers the mantle. It is as though Sarto wished to respect convention in both pictures, but also, and again in both panels, to break from this and express his own sense of chromatic symmetry. Each picture stands alone, but their relationship reveals much of the artist's preoccupations at a time when he was at the vanguard of the artistic life of Florence, setting the pace for younger contemporaries of whom the most brilliant was Pontormo and establishing a naturalistic visual canon that was to be respected in Florence for the ensuing century. The rough drawings on the original priming on the reverse, which include a standing nude moving his left leg and arm forward, and a putto seen from the right side were clearly executed in Sarto's studio, and it would be rash to exclude the possibility that these are autograph: there is indeed a striking resemblance between the lower part of the nude and that in a chalk study in the Uffizi (Shearman, pl. 47 c), which was used for the Saint John of the lost Pucci Pietà, which was engraved in 1516, and may well have been worked on at the same time as the Madonna and its counterpart at Ottawa. It may be relevant that there are also drawings on the reverse of the ex-Cook version of the Borghese Madonna in the Kisters collection (Shearman, no. 45 (1)), the prototype of which is held to be of before 1518.

LOT 182 PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR ANDREA DEL SARTO FLORENCE 1486 - 1531 MADONNA AND CHILD 2,000,000—3,000,000 USD measurements measurements note 30 by 25 3/4 in.; 76.5 by 65.5 cm. Description oil on panel PROVENANCE With David Koester, London, 1930;Dr. Baron von Thyssen-Bornemisza, Schloss Rohoncz, Lugano, thenceby descent;Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, July 5, 1989, lot 120 (as AfterAndrea del Sarto). LITERATURE AND REFERENCES S. J. Freedberg, Andrea del Sarto: catalogue raisonné,Cambridge, Mass. 1963, vol. I, p. 182, under cat. no. 91 (undercopies and derivations);J. Shearman, Andrea del Sarto, vol. I, p. 279 (as a copy). CATALOGUE NOTE Writing some four decades after Andrea del Sarto's death, theFlorentine art historian Francesco Bocchi undertook a criticalexegesis of the works of the artist, the Discorso sopra l'eccelenzadell'opere d'Andrea del Sarto, pittore fiorentino1 inwhich he attempted to examine the painter's oeuvre based onAristotelian ideals. Although highly philosophical in its tone andintent, Bocchi did not eschew direct aesthetic commentary and—amongst other observations— singled out the artist's ability todepict women. These, Bocchi noted, "he painted so well and in sucha sweet manner which is well known, and as he did in so many otherthings, that in doing these he was able to bring them to a finishof an almost divine peak of quality and of the greatest level ofperfection."2 As an example of del Sarto's"perfettione" , Bocchi pointed to one of the artist's mostfamous works: "Our Lady... the one which is called 'The Virgin Maryof the Sack' is as far as its palette is concerned a unique andrare thing."3 Bocchi's observations and admiration ofdel Sarto's Madonnas were shared by his contemporaries; tounderstand the estimation in which they were held one only needrecall Vasari's famous account of a painting that had beencommissioned to send to the King of France: Giovan Battista Puccini of Florence... taking extraordinarypleasure in the manner of Andrea, commissioned him to paint apicture of Our Lady for sending into France; but it proved to be sofine that he kept it for himself, and would by no means sendit.4 Unable to give the picture up, Puccini had del Sarto paintanother picture of the Pietà for the King, and then laterhad another version of the Madonna made, and sent that off to theFrance (now Louvre, Paris, inv. 1515). Certainly it is clear thatin his own time, as in later centuries, the depictions of theMadonna that del Sarto created were amongst his most immediate andsuccessful images; it was undoubtedly a theme which allowed himample opportunity to display his considerable skills of inventionand reinvention and which continues to have the most appeal to ustoday. This beautiful Madonna and Child exemplifies del Sarto'sattention to colorito and disegno in his portrayal ofwomen as described by Bocchi in his treatise. It depicts the Virginseated on a wooden bench, holding a large and robust Infant Christon her lap. Behind them appears to be a dark and visuallyundescribed room—a device that the artist often employed in hisdepictions of the Holy Family— which is separated from the viewerby a pair of heavy, dark green curtains. The Virgin's head is shownin profile, silhouetted against the dark behind her, as she looksdown to the figure of nude child who looks out as he reaches up tohis mother's neckline. As with so many of del Sarto's paintings,its earliest provenance is unclear (see below). The first securereference to it was when it was with the dealer David Koetser in1930, whence it entered the collection of Baron Heinrich vonThyssen Bornemisza at Schloss Rohoncz. It remained in his familyfor decades, and has thus been largely unavailable to scholars. Itwas published by Freedberg as a copy of the painting in theGalleria Palatina, Florence (see below), based on photographs, anassertion with Shearman repeated based soley on Freedberg's text.It has since been lightly cleaned, and the quality of the picture,the softness of modeling, the numerous pentimenti and the techniquewith which the picture was painted (particularly the underdrawing)all confirm the paintings autograph status. This Madonna and Child belongs to a group of paintings ofthis subject produced by del Sarto in the late 1520s and early1530s. Amongst this group is the intriguing picture of theMadonna and Child with the Infant Baptist in Florence(Appartamenti Reali di Palazzo Pitti, inv. O.d.A. 844). Thatpainting has generally been given to the studio of del Sarto, andcorresponds to the present panel in many respects. The Virgin isshown seated on a bench with her right arm raised to hercollarbone, the legs of the infant Christ splayed across her knee.The same curtains are in the background and the folds of thedrapery across the figure of the Madonna correspond closely. Thereare important differences, however. The inclusion of the Baptist ofcourse is significant, but also the face of the Madonna that isturned three quarters to the left of the composition, as well asthe figure of the Christ, who is covered with a cloth and who turnsmore fully towards the viewer, with both hands resting in his lap.This composition must have represented a prototype by del Sarto, asit appears to have been the departure point for a number of otherartists, either in Andrea's studio or much further removed, tocreate their own paintings based on thisschema .5 Closest to the present Madonna and Child , however, is apanel in the collection of the Galleria Palatina, Florence (inv.476; see fig. 1). That painting parallels the present one veryclosely, with the expected digressions found in versions of delSarto's work: the coloration of the Madonna's veil in the Palatinapanel is an orange yellow as compared with a mulberry pink, thedrapery around her shoulders a lilac with yellow stripes as opposedto a light blue. There are a number of other differences that areless subtle, however. The hand of the Virgin supporting the back ofthe Infant is moved much higher up in the present work. And,perhaps more interestingly, the bench on which the Madonna sits ismore carefully rendered, with molding and entablature elements moresuggestive of a luxurious walnut piece of furniture than the simplenon-descript ledge that the Palatina Madonna rests upon. Thisdifference was not an afterthought, as the artist carefully scoredlines into the still wet imprimatura (or preparatory ground)to lay this in, and the resulting effect is to raise up the figureof the Madonna and Child within the picture plane and to give theoverall composition a more robust sense of space around thefigures. Examination of all of these pictures with infraredreflectography has also been extremely useful in understandingtheir relationship to one another. In an article published in 1997,Serena Padovani illustrated the infrared images of the AppartamentiReali and the Galleria Palatina Madonnas (both housed in thePalazzo Pitti, but in separate collections) and revealed afascinating discovery.6 It was clear that both panelsderived from the same cartoon, which corresponded with the Madonnain the Royal Apartments, ascribed to the bottega of delSarto. That painting, showing three figures with the Virgin facingout, corresponds with its underdrawing completely, with no majordeviations except the addition of a strip of cloth across the rightarm of the Infant Christ. The underdrawing in that picture appearsto be rather dryly handled and looks for the most part to have beenexecuted using the calco method, entirely consistent with astudio work.7 Upon examination of the Madonna and Child in thePalatina, however, a more interesting observation could be made.The original design beneath the paint layer of that painting wasclearly from the same cartoon as the other Madonna , anddepicted not only the figure of the young Baptist to the left,which was entirely ignored and painted over in the finalcomposition, but also shows the Virgin with her head turned out andto the left, rather than in profile as in the final painting. Thefigure of the Christ in the underdrawing is also different from thefinal figure significantly, and matches that of the studio work.The final painting of the Palatina Madonna , therefore,deviates from its original design significantly; it appears as ifthe cartoon was carefully transferred, as in the case of theAppartimenti Reali panel, simply by tracing it onto the support.The care and dryness with which this was done suggests that it wasprobably left to a studio assistant, as there is no freedom orvariation at all in the handling, or adjustments made to thecontours, which is often seen in other del Sarto underdrawings. Thesignificant changes of turning the Virgin's head to profile andmoving the head and arms of the Infant appear to have happened inthe painting of the picture, with the rest of the compositionfollowing fairly faithfully the original design. This suggests,therefore, that Andrea del Sarto created a fully worked up cartoonof a Madonna and Child with an Infant Baptist corresponding to thefirst composition, and which was used by his studio to create anumber of pictures of this composition, with no autograph paintingby del Sarto of that exact image extant.8 That cartoon,however, was used by del Sarto himself to create a free variationon the theme in the Palatina Madonna. An examination of the present Madonna and Child withinfrared reflectography in September 2009 has also revealed someinteresting facts (see fig. 2).9 The handling of thedrawing differs greatly in feel from the other two; it is much morerobustly and freely executed, and done in more than one technique,a component seen in other of Andrea's paintings that have beenexamined under infrared.10 Of the three panels, it canbe said to have the most "beautiful" underdrawing (if one can makeaesthetic judgments of a component of his work that Andrea neverimagined we would see). The areas of drapery around the shoulderand lap of the Virgin are not as dryly and pedantically rendered,her sleeve and hand more delicately drawn in, with changes to herthumb and cuff rendered a mano libera . In the rest of thecomposition outside of these areas, which are compositionallyfairly consistent in all three panels, the underdrawing was createdin another manner altogether. Here Andrea appears to have abandonedthe cartoon that he used in the other panels, and chose to makemost of the modifications employed in the Palatina Madonna. Thehead of the Madonna in profile and her left hand supporting theInfant Christ's back, as well as his entire figure, are brushed inwhat appears to be acquarella d'inchiostro , basically atechnique of ink wash that is present in other works of delSarto.11 The differences in the underdrawing and thetechnique are indicative not only of the facility and versatilityin which del Sarto was capable of working, but of the quality inwhich he typically worked. It appears, in fact, that a more "free-style" approach with thisMadonna and Child was required. As the panel is about 10centimeters smaller than the Palatina Madonna, and includes morespace beneath the foot of the Infant and to the right and left ofthe figures, some amount of free hand adjustments would have beennecessary to bring the image to the correct scale if the samecartoon was used. Thus while the areas of the right arm and draperyacross the neck and legs of the Virgin appear to be blocked inaccording to the cartoon, it appears to be more loosely done,perhaps only lightly traced, and then adjusted here and there.Similar small modifications are seen in other places, such as inthe chin and nose of the Virgin, which has been changed. Additionsand modifications were also made in other areas, again apparentlyat del Sarto's discretion as he painted: a blue drapery is paintedunder the buttocks of the baby, and the area just to the rightwhere in the other paintings the Virgin hand with her sleeves restsis clearly left vacant in the underdrawing (where these elementswould have gone) and then painted over when he decided to move herhand much further up in the composition. 1. Although unpublished, the Discourse has been dated toBocchi's youth, circa 1567, and has been published in its entiretyby Robert Williams (see "A Treatise by Francesco Bocchi in Praiseof Andrea del Sarto," Journal of the Warburg and CourtauldInstitutes , Vol. 52, (1989), pp. 111-139.2. "dipinse così ottimamente et di maniera così dolce, che benesi cognosce, come che nell'altre cose ancora, con tutto ciò inquesta quasi divinamente essere egli arrivato a quell'alto segno etmaggior grado di perfettione che in atto si può recareadoperando. " see Williams op. cit. p. 135.3. See Williams op. cit. p. 135 [la Nostra Donna..., la quale sichiama la Vergine Maria del Sacco nel suo colorito per quanto segli richiede è unica e rara ."].4. "Giovanbatista Puccini fiorentino, piacendoglistraordinariamente il modo di fare d'Andrea, gli fece fare unquadro di Nostra Donna....; ma riuscitogli bellissimo, se lo tenneper sé, e non lo mandò altrimenti. " 5. There arestudio versions of the work, copies, and at least one example byPier Francesco Foschi (private collection, see Padovani literaturecited below, p. 209, illus. 8), as well as a drawing from delSarto's studio (Gabinetto Disegni e Stempe degli Uffizi, Florence,inv.12123F) as well as works attributed to Michele di Ridolfo andhis circle.6. See S. Padovani, "Genesi e fortuna di un dipinto perduto diAndrea del Sarto," in Scritti per L'Istituto Germanico di Storiadell'Arte di Firenze , 1997, pp. 205-214.7. The calco method was in common use during the period, andexamination of del Sarto's works has revealed that he employed thistechnique frequently. Vasari described the process, where a cartoonor full scale drawing for the composition executed and thenblackened on the reverse with a dark pigment. The design was thentransferred to the panel by tracing the contours of the drawing onthe front side, thus creating in effect a carbon copy beneath. Thisthen was used as a guide for the painted layer.8. A drawing of the composition, but smaller and scale and thus notthe cartoon..... Padovani has suggested that the composition mayhave been the picture mentioned in early sources in the famousBorgherini bedroom.9. IR done by Shaun Dibgy-Peers, September 2009.10. See E. Buzzegoli and D. Kunzelman, 1986.....11. This technique was described in the Libro dell'Arte byCennino Cennini and has been discussed in other examples of theartist's work, see E. Buzzegoli and D. Kunzelman, op. cit., p.341.

Andrea d'Angiolo, called Andrea del Sarto (Florence1486-1530) Head of Saint Joseph looking down, with a subsidiary study of hisfeatures (recto); Two studies of legs (verso) black and red chalk (recto); red chalk (verso), watermark acorn(similar to Briquet 7435, Florence 1530), on part of GiorgioVasari's mount 14¾ x 8¾ in. (373 x 225 mm.)

material/medium oil on panel provenance frederick william hervey, 5th earl and 1st marquess of bristol, by 1838; thence by descent at ickworth house, suffolk, until 1993. literature j. gage, history and antiquities of suffolk (thingoe hundred), 1838, p. 307, ("library, the virgin and child and st. john, 3 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft.- andrea del sarto"); b. ford, "the earl-bishop: an eccentric and capricious parton of arts", in apollo magazine, june 1974, pp. 426-434, (note "the finest of the italian pictures is undoubtedly a madonna and child with the infant st. john by andrea del sarto"). catalogue note the second half of the 1520’’s was a particularly productive time for del sarto, and despite the political and social upheavals which florence was experiencing at that time, the artist’’s inventive genius had remained undimmed, and the demand for his work undiminished. he had completed his monumental cenacolo for the refectory of san salvi, florence (1526/7) and was busy producing panels for the king of france, for the medici, and other patrons, all at the moment as his biographer baldinucci noted of "rovine di tutti i borghi della città, monasteri, spedali, e altri edifice vicini a firenze (f. baldinucci, notizie….1681-1728; ed. f. ranalli, 1845-7, vol. ii, p. 79)." this chaos (and the siege of florence by emperor charles v in particular) would eventually lead to the plague that claimed the artist’’s life. it is from this moment that the present madonna and child with the infant baptist would date. in a letter dated 27th november, 2000, dr. john sherman confirmed the autograph status of the present panel and suggested a dating of circa 1526, relating the picture to the sacrifice of isaac in the cleveland museum of art. he had apparently seen the painting first hand as early as the late 1960’’s, just after the publication of his monograph and catalogue raisonné on the artist. it is one of a group of paintings which he intended to publish as a supplement to his earlier work. other opinions have supported a slightly later dating of composition, and brushy technique of painting has lead some to suggest that it may have remained unfinished. in fact, the composition of the present painting has striking parallels with the madonna and child in the pitti (inv. 476) which has generally been dated to 1528/29. the positioning of the arms and hands of the virgin as well as the splayed legs of the bambino closely correspond to the present panel (the position of the heads of the figures and the torso of the child differ significantly). in fact, this same dynamic pose of the infant christ appears to have been a variation on a theme that del sarto worked through in the second half of the 1520’’s, starting with the madonna del sacco (ss. annunziata, florence, dated 1525) through the pala di sarzana (pitti, florence, dateable to 1528) and further (see andrea del sarto: dipinti e disegni a firenze, exhibition catalogue, florence 1986, p. 161). despite the fact that the present panel was until the mid-1990’’s relatively unknown to the larger body of scholars, it has a distinguished provenance. it is first recorded in a list of possessions of frederick william hervey, 1st marquess of bristol at ickworth house, suffolk (see provenance below) dating to circa 1837 where inscribed in the marquess’’ own hand is the following notation: “library- 4 the virgin & child with st. john on her right—fine picture by a. del sarto.” it was to remain in the library at ickworth until the death of the 4th marquess in 1951, when it was moved to the family wing of the house. it may have been one of the pictures collected by the 1st marquess' father, the somewhat unconventional frederick hervey, 4th earl of bristol and bishop of derry. the earl bishop had amassed a substantial collection of old masters and sculptures in rome where he lived with the idea of sending them to decorate a remodelled ickworth. his collections, however, were confiscated by the invading french armies, and were dispersed in public auction in rome in 1804 and by other means. the panel is not mentioned in either that auction listing or in a subsequent group that was bought back in 1819 by his son in france after the napoleonic war.