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Lot Essay
Known to scholars only through black-and-white photographs, and untraced since its 1931 sale in New York, this refined panel by Lorenzo Veneziano is an important rediscovery (see Fondazione Federico Zeri, Archivio fotografico, inv. nos. 26079, 26271). Unquestionably the leading painter in Venice during the second half of the trecento, Lorenzo was widely admired both within the city and across the terraferma. By around 1360⁄70, the approximate date of this work, he had assimilated artistic developments from beyond the Lagoon, particularly those emerging from Padua and Treviso, and the innovations of Guariento di Arpo and Tommaso da Modena. This influence is reflected in the dynamic figural interplay, subtly volumetric drapery, and architectonic idiosyncrasies that animate the present composition. As the principal successor to Paolo Veneziano, Lorenzo is credited with introducing a new naturalism and spatial sophistication to the Italo-Byzantine tradition of trecento Venice and is accordingly regarded as one of the city’s seminal and most innovative artists.
The present painting depicts the Marriage of the Virgin before a marble parapet that marks the threshold of the Temple. The Virgin, her head gently inclined, receives a ring from Joseph, who holds the flowering rod upon which a dove has alighted. The narrative is enriched with Lorenzo’s characteristically expressive detail: at left, a disappointed suitor angrily breaks his barren staff, while at right, a group of maidens observes the ritual in composed silence. Behind them rises a stylized structure comprising a sharply raked staircase ascending to a circular drum with a balustrade flanked by pointed arches.
Notably, the panel retains its original engaged frame with a cusped gable and foliate motifs, which, along with its vertical wood grain, trilobed format, and traces of a now-removed crossbar on the reverse, clearly indicate its original function in the upper register of a polyptych (we are grateful to Emanuele Zappasodi for first suggesting the presence of crossbar marks based on photographs; written communication, 17 April 2025). Andrea De Marchi associates this panel with a Nativity of the Virgin formerly in a Venetian private collection (C. Guarnieri, op. cit., 2006, p. 201, no. 30); both share nearly identical dimensions, trilobed shapes, and closely comparable halos and facial types, strongly suggesting a common origin.
While Cristina Guarnieri and Zappasodi date the present painting to circa 1370 (C. Guarnieri, op. cit., 2006, p. 201; E. Zappasodi, written communication, 17 April 2025), Christopher Platts proposes an earlier date, circa 1360, citing its relatively schematic architecture and figure types in contrast to Lorenzo’s signed and dated Madonna della Rosa (1372; Musée du Louvre, inv. MI 395l; written communication, 25 April 2025).
Although earlier scholars—among them Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà (op. cit., 1931), Michelangelo Muraro (op. cit., 1970), and Marilena Tamassia (op. cit., 1995)—expressed concern about the painting’s condition based on black-and-white photographs, direct examination now confirms its fine state of preservation, previously not visible in reproduction.
We are grateful to Christopher Platts for generously sharing his observations and for his assistance in cataloguing this painting. We also extend our gratitude to Emanuele Zappasodi for his observations and for his help in clarifying the provenance.
The present painting depicts the Marriage of the Virgin before a marble parapet that marks the threshold of the Temple. The Virgin, her head gently inclined, receives a ring from Joseph, who holds the flowering rod upon which a dove has alighted. The narrative is enriched with Lorenzo’s characteristically expressive detail: at left, a disappointed suitor angrily breaks his barren staff, while at right, a group of maidens observes the ritual in composed silence. Behind them rises a stylized structure comprising a sharply raked staircase ascending to a circular drum with a balustrade flanked by pointed arches.
Notably, the panel retains its original engaged frame with a cusped gable and foliate motifs, which, along with its vertical wood grain, trilobed format, and traces of a now-removed crossbar on the reverse, clearly indicate its original function in the upper register of a polyptych (we are grateful to Emanuele Zappasodi for first suggesting the presence of crossbar marks based on photographs; written communication, 17 April 2025). Andrea De Marchi associates this panel with a Nativity of the Virgin formerly in a Venetian private collection (C. Guarnieri, op. cit., 2006, p. 201, no. 30); both share nearly identical dimensions, trilobed shapes, and closely comparable halos and facial types, strongly suggesting a common origin.
While Cristina Guarnieri and Zappasodi date the present painting to circa 1370 (C. Guarnieri, op. cit., 2006, p. 201; E. Zappasodi, written communication, 17 April 2025), Christopher Platts proposes an earlier date, circa 1360, citing its relatively schematic architecture and figure types in contrast to Lorenzo’s signed and dated Madonna della Rosa (1372; Musée du Louvre, inv. MI 395l; written communication, 25 April 2025).
Although earlier scholars—among them Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà (op. cit., 1931), Michelangelo Muraro (op. cit., 1970), and Marilena Tamassia (op. cit., 1995)—expressed concern about the painting’s condition based on black-and-white photographs, direct examination now confirms its fine state of preservation, previously not visible in reproduction.
We are grateful to Christopher Platts for generously sharing his observations and for his assistance in cataloguing this painting. We also extend our gratitude to Emanuele Zappasodi for his observations and for his help in clarifying the provenance.