The Madonna della Pappa

Alessandro Vitali, one Federico Barocci's star pupils, painted the present work after Barocci's now-lost Madonna della Pappa, which is thought to be the painting formerly at Wilton House (see A.F. Tempesti, 'Una scheda per il Barocci', Prospettiva, no. 3, 1975, pp. 48-50). Barocci's painting was also recorded in a color mezzotint by Christophe Le Blon. We are grateful to Ian Verstegen and John Marciari for suggesting the attribution on the basis of a photograph, and for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.