Lot Essay
Although Heinemann (op. cit.) included the present painting in his 1962 monograph as by Bellini without having seen the original, he also noted that 'Dalla fotografia sembra modellato più morbidamente ed in maniera più fluida e dipinto in maniera più larga e leggermente più liquida delle opere autografe di Giovanni Bellini'.
The great chronicler of Italian painting, Raimond van Marle in his privately printed article on the present painting (op. cit., no date) described the present painting as such: 'It is not at all difficult to establish the authorship of this beautiful panel, the technical perfection of which, as well as the deep and serene sentiment which emanates from it, exclude all possiblility of its being a work-shop production. Even those pictures executed under the master's direct supervision and perhaps in part from his own hand, a good many of which examples have come down to us, never reach this height of spiritual inspiration and masterful handling'.
When offered for sale in 1963 the present lot was accompanied by certificates from Dr. W.R. Valentiner, dated Dec. 1, 1930; Dr. Detler von Hadeln, dated Florence, March 20, 1931; and Dr. Raimond van Marle, all as by Giovanni Bellini. Hadeln dated the painting to between 1490 and 1495 and noted that Cima used the composition for a Madonna and Child then in the possession of Edward Tuck, Paris (now in the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris).
Many versions of the composition either by Cima, his workshop or immediate followers, are known (see Humfrey, op. cit., nos. 116, 93, 25, 134, 214 and 239), of which the earliest is Cima's signed and dated painting of 1496 in the Museo Diocensano di Arte Sacra, Udine (ibid., no. 137). Humfrey also notes that the composition is loosely based on Bellini's Madonna of the Pear in the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo (Heinemann, op. cit., I, p. 8, no. 33, II, p. 84, pl. 62).
The great chronicler of Italian painting, Raimond van Marle in his privately printed article on the present painting (op. cit., no date) described the present painting as such: 'It is not at all difficult to establish the authorship of this beautiful panel, the technical perfection of which, as well as the deep and serene sentiment which emanates from it, exclude all possiblility of its being a work-shop production. Even those pictures executed under the master's direct supervision and perhaps in part from his own hand, a good many of which examples have come down to us, never reach this height of spiritual inspiration and masterful handling'.
When offered for sale in 1963 the present lot was accompanied by certificates from Dr. W.R. Valentiner, dated Dec. 1, 1930; Dr. Detler von Hadeln, dated Florence, March 20, 1931; and Dr. Raimond van Marle, all as by Giovanni Bellini. Hadeln dated the painting to between 1490 and 1495 and noted that Cima used the composition for a Madonna and Child then in the possession of Edward Tuck, Paris (now in the Musée du Petit Palais, Paris).
Many versions of the composition either by Cima, his workshop or immediate followers, are known (see Humfrey, op. cit., nos. 116, 93, 25, 134, 214 and 239), of which the earliest is Cima's signed and dated painting of 1496 in the Museo Diocensano di Arte Sacra, Udine (ibid., no. 137). Humfrey also notes that the composition is loosely based on Bellini's Madonna of the Pear in the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo (Heinemann, op. cit., I, p. 8, no. 33, II, p. 84, pl. 62).