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Lot Essay
This hitherto unpublished picture is part of a group of similar compositions that were traditionally attributed to Bastiano Mainardi (San Gimignano 1466-1513 Florence). Others include those in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv. no. 46.1429), at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham (inv. no. 40) and one in a private collection (the latter illustrated in B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Florentine Schools, London, 1963, II, no. 985, as Bastiano Mainardi). That the attribution was little doubted is illustrated by the letters of Professor Roberto Longhi, Dr. Hermann Voss and Professor Fiocco, by all of whom it was confirmed.
Comparison with The Virgin and Child with Saint Justus and a Female Saint in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, shows that the style of the present picture is indeed close to that of Mainardi. Vasari noted that Mainardi was one of the earliest pupils of Domenico Ghirlandaio and that he was active in his studio until his master's death.
However, Luisa Venturini in her reconstruction of the oeuvre of the artist, based upon the fresco cycle in the Cappella S. Bartolo in the Church of S. Agostino, San Gimignano (originally signed and dated 1500), does not include the group of pictures to which the present picture belongs amongst the artist's works (see L. Venturini, Bastiano Mainardi, pittore di San Gimignano, e altri problemi di pittura fiorentina tra la fine del quattrocento e l'inizio del cinquecento, diss. Università di Firenze, 1988-1999; and idem, 'Il maestro del 1506, la tarda attività di Bastiano Mainardi', Studi di Storia dell' Arte, 1994-1995, V-VI, pp. 123-183).
We are grateful to Everett Fahy for his help in cataloguing this picture, and for confirming the attribution, having examined the work in the original.
Comparison with The Virgin and Child with Saint Justus and a Female Saint in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, shows that the style of the present picture is indeed close to that of Mainardi. Vasari noted that Mainardi was one of the earliest pupils of Domenico Ghirlandaio and that he was active in his studio until his master's death.
However, Luisa Venturini in her reconstruction of the oeuvre of the artist, based upon the fresco cycle in the Cappella S. Bartolo in the Church of S. Agostino, San Gimignano (originally signed and dated 1500), does not include the group of pictures to which the present picture belongs amongst the artist's works (see L. Venturini, Bastiano Mainardi, pittore di San Gimignano, e altri problemi di pittura fiorentina tra la fine del quattrocento e l'inizio del cinquecento, diss. Università di Firenze, 1988-1999; and idem, 'Il maestro del 1506, la tarda attività di Bastiano Mainardi', Studi di Storia dell' Arte, 1994-1995, V-VI, pp. 123-183).
We are grateful to Everett Fahy for his help in cataloguing this picture, and for confirming the attribution, having examined the work in the original.