Beschreibung:

The Property of a Gentleman
Bonifazio de' Pitati, called Bonifazio VeroneseVerona 1487 - 1553 VeniceThe Virgin reading a book and holding the standing Christ Child, with a landscape beyond
oil on panelunframed: 74 x 49.2 cm.; 29⅛ x 19⅜ in.framed: 86 x 70.5 cm.; 33⅞ x 27¾ in.Condition reportThe following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: The soft wood support has been reduced in thickness and reinforced with a modern composite wooden support. The original panel is stable and secure and is slightly convex in appearance. Two vertical splits have been repaired, one through the Madonna’s face and in to her neck, with associated minor loss, and one extending up from the bottom edge, through the ledge and book and into the Madonna’s red cloak. Under u-v light as well as the loss along the splits, a scattering of minor restoration can be seen across the surface. This has been applied to mitigate minor pitted paint loss particularly to the background, through the figure of Christ and the red of the Madonna’s dress. The blue of her dress is well preserved. Restoration seen in the green drapery behind is excessive in parts and unsympathetically applied. The paint texture and impasted highlights are retained and details through the landscape are in an entirely original state. The tonal values to the skin and through the hair of Christ are unaffected. Chromatic and tonal values are generally well preserved.
Please note that Condition 12 of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) is not applicable to this lot.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenancePrince Stanislaw Poniatowski (1754–1833), Rome; Thence by family descent in Paris and Vienna (as Titian); With Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, before 1927; Stockholm art market, 1927; Acquired in 1928 for a private collection, Stockholm;Thence by family descent; By whom sold ('Property from a Private Collection'), London, Sotheby's, 1 November 2001, lot 27; With Hall and Knight, New York; Where acquired on 3 April 2002; Private collection, United States; Whence sold ('Property from a Distinguised Private Collection'), New York, Sotheby’s, 22 May 2019, lot 15 for $212,500; Where acquired by the present owner.LiteratureS. Poglayen-Neuwall, 'Ein wiederaufgetauchtes Frühwerk Tizians?', in Cicerone, vol. 19, no. 19, October 1927, pp. 591–96, reproduced p. 593, fig. 2 (as Titian);
D. Westphal, Bonifazio Veronese (Bonifazio dei Pitati), Munich 1931, pp. 31–33, n. 81, p. 144, reproduced pl. IV, fig. 5 (as Bonifazio);
O. Sirén, Italienska Tavlor och Teckningar: Nationalmuseum och andra Svenska och Finska Samlingar, Stockholm 1933, p. 137, reproduced pl. 88 (as Palma il Vecchio);
A. Busiri Vici, I Poniatowski e Roma, Florence 1971, pp. 326–27, engraving reproduced fig. 152 (as Bonifazio).Catalogue noteThis painting was first correctly ascribed to Bonifazio Veronese by Dorothea Westphal in 1937 (see under Literature). Prior to that, this devotional painting was believed to be an early work by Titian, with an arrangement of figures similar to the so-called 'Gypsy Madonna' in Vienna.
Yet the present landscape and figure types are consistent with Bonifazio's works of the 1520s, including the The Holy Family with a Shepherd in the National Gallery, London, and The Holy Family in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, in which the Christ Child appears especially close to this one. At the time of the 2001 sale, Dr Philip Cottrell endorsed the attribution to Bonifazio.
Prince Stanislaw Poniatowski (1754–1833), earliest recorded owner of this painting, was the nephew of the King of Poland and a major art patron and collector in late 18th-century Europe. Relocating to Rome after the third partition of Poland in 1795, Prince Poniatowski counted among his friends artists such as Antonio Canova Angelica Kauffmann and Anton Raphael Mengs This painting remained in his family longer than much of his encyclopedic collection, which was dispersed after his death.