Lot 119: - Gregorio di Cecco di Lucca , Siena ?1390-95 - before July 1424 Siena A triptych: the Crucifixion with Saint Francis of Assisi, flanked by Saints John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene oil and tempera on panel, gold ground, a triptych

oil and tempera on panel, gold ground, a triptych

measurements note overall: 30.5 by 26.4 cm.; 12 by 10 3/8 in.

Zurich, Kunsthaus, Ausländische Kunst in Zürich, 1943.

Anonymous sale, Zurich, Galerie Tanner, 30 September 1932, for CHF. 20,000;
With Julius Böhler, Munich;
With José Carreras, Barcelona.

PROPERTY FROM A DECEASED'S ESTATE
We are grateful to Dr. Gaudenz Freuler for proposing the attribution to Gregorio di Cecco following first-hand inspection. On the basis of photographs, however, both Prof. Miklós Boskovits and Everett Fahy independently endorse the traditional attribution to Paolo di Giovanni Fei (c.1345 - c.1411). Gregorio di Cecco was a pupil of Taddeo di Bartolo in Siena, with whom he jointly signed an altarpiece in 1420 for the Marescotti chapel in the church of Sant' Agostino in Siena (now lost). He became Taddeo's partner in 1421 and his adoptive son and heir following his death in 1422. In the same year he was one of the advisors on the construction of the church and loggia of San Paolo, Siena. His style is unsurprisingly derived from that of Taddeo, but differs in its refinement and colouring. The placing of Saint Francis here at the foot of the cross alongside the mourning Virgin and John the Evangelist, where Mary Magdalene normally kneels, might suggest that this portable triptych was commissioned by a Franciscan or by someone who wished his name-saint to appear in such a prominent position.