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Lot Essay
The attribution of this panel has been the subject of some debate: Sir Ellis Waterhouse, in the 1960 exhibition catalogue, endorsed the traditional attribution to Benedetto Carpaccio, son of Vittore. But, in the 1963 exhibition catalogue, Pignatti argued for an attribution to Vittore; subsequently, in the 1966 monograph, he retreated from this position. The composition relates to two late altarpieces by Carpaccio himself, that of 1516 in the Concattedrale at Capodistria (J. Lauts, Carpaccio, London, 1962, no. 39, pl. 193), in which the Child is similar in pose (although the left arm hangs downwards and the head is seen in profile), while the Madonna's head is seen at the same angle and in a similarly arranged - although differently lit - veil. The male saint, generally identified as Liberale, clearly depends on the full-length Saint George of the altarpiece of the Madonna and Child enthroned with six Saints in the church of San Francesco at Pirano, which is dated 1518 (Lauts, no. 66, pl. 196): the same figure was used by Benedetto in his signed Madonna and Child with Saints Lucy and George of 1541 in the Palazzo Comunale at Pirano, which to judge from the reproduction (Lauts, pl. IX(c)) is evidently inferior in quality. The palm held by Saint Catherine is used to similar effect as those in a drawing for a lost altarpiece of 1519 at Dresden (Lauts, no. 10, pl. 195). It therefore seems reasonable to suppose that this Sacra Conversazione was designed by the elderly Carpaccio himself about 1520 - he died in 1525-6. The extent to which the execution was delegated to Benedetto or hypothetically another assistant - as was clearly the case in other late works like the Capodistria organ shutters - remains a matter for debate. Professor Peter Humfrey on the basis of photographs comments: 'of the time of or slightly later than two altarpieces for Istria.... This may or may not mean Benedetto.' The fact that the figure of the male saint occurs in two commissions for Pirano suggests that this panel may also have been intended for an Istrian patron. His armour and sword are of contemporary design, while the pouldrow (at the shoulders) is a fanciful invention of the artist.