Estimate

35.000 - 50.000

Session 2

22 October 2024

Description

Oil on panel
This composition depicts the Holy Family and Saint John the Baptist in a Nativity scene. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary is kneeling in prayer, while Saint Joseph, seated on the left, observes the scene thoughtfully, with his head resting on his hand. Next to Saint Joseph, the young Saint John the Baptist is kneeling, holding a staff with a cross. In the background, a ruined structure is flanked by an ox and a donkey beside the manger. In the distance, over the hills, a celestial apparition announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, while the three wise men proceed in procession, accompanied by a giraffe.

Diam.: 84 cm

Category

Paintings

Additional Information

Note:
The "Master of the Borghese Tondo" takes his name from a tondo in the Villa Borghese, Rome. This Florentine painter was a follower of Domenico Ghirlandaio and was initially identified as Jacopo del Tedesco, a pupil of Ghirlandaio mentioned by Giorgio Vasari. This attribution was proposed by Francovich in 1927 but later refuted due to lack of evidence. Everett Fahy has listed around two dozen works by this master.
The composition now presented for auction is inspired by a painting from Filippo Lippi, later reinterpreted by Domenico Ghirlandaio and the workshop of Cosimo Rosselli. The influence of Rosselli is evident, showing parallels with other artists from the Florentine circle. The tondo also has affinities with a similar version in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Provenance:
Dampierre Collection (according to label on the reverse).
Scandinavian private collection.
H. Ulmann, "Piero di Cosimo", Jahrbuch der Königlichen Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, XVII, 1896, p. 139.
G. De Francovich, "Appunti su alcuni minori pittori fiorentini della seconda metà del secolo XV", Bolletino d'Arte, VI, 1926/27, p. 535-540.
E. Fahy, Some Followers of Domenico Ghirlandaio, New York and London, 1976, p. 168.