Lot 22: FRANCESCO SIGNORELLI

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR ACTIVE IN CORTONA DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY THE HOLY FAMILY WITH SAINTS JOHN, ELISABETH, AND ZACHARIAS tondo, oil on panel diameter: 34 1/2 in.; 87.6 cm.

R. Vischer, Luca Signorelli und die Italianische Renaissance, eine Kunsthistorische Monographie, Leipzig 1879, p. 261 (as by Luca Signorelli); G. Mancini, Vita di Luca Signorelli, Florence 1903, p. 172 (as by Luca Signorelli); A. Venturi, Storia dell'arte Italiana, VII, vol. II, Milan 1913, p. 408 (as workshop of Luca Signorelli); A. Venturi, Luca Signorelli, Florence 1921, p. 63 (as workshop of Luca Signorelli); L. Dussler, Signorelli. Klassiker der Kunst, Berlin and Leipzig 1927, p. 203 (as workshop of Luca Signorelli); M. Salmi, Luca Signorelli, Novara 1953, p. 61 (as by Francesco Signorelli); L.B. Kanter, The Late Works of Luca Signorelli and his Followers 1498-1559, doctoral thesis, New York University 1989, p. 225, footnote 17 (as by Francesco Signorelli); L.B. Kanter, "Francesco Signorelli", in Arte Cristiana, vol. LXXXII, 1994, pp. 199-212; R. Olson, "Signorelli's Berlin Tondo: New Information (technical, stylistic, and iconographic)", in Arte Cristiana, vol. 779, 1997, pp. 104-105 (as Signorelli Workshop or Francesco Signorelli, present whereabouts unknown); T. Henry and L.B. Kanter, Luca Signorelli. The Complete Paintings, New York 2002, p. 261, cat. no X27 (as Unknown Tuscan Artsist).

In the possession of the family of the current owners since at least 1879.

The general composition of the present tondo follows that of Luca Signorelli's Holy Family with Saints John, Elisabeth, and Zacharias in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie, a work which Signorelli painted circa 1509-13.1 This picture has been recognized as a work by Signorelli's nephew, Francesco Signorelli, who executed works in his uncle's late style in the decades following Luca's death in 1523. Larry Kanter has proposed a dating of this panel to circa 1530-40. A variant of the present work, also by Francesco Signorelli, but of smaller dimensions, was sold New York, Christie's, 8 November 1984, lot 88. 1. see Literature, Henry and Kanter 2002, p. 227.