Beschreibung:

The Property of a Gentleman
Francesco TrevisaniCapodistria (Cape of Istra, Slovenia) 1656 - 1746 RomeThe Virgin sewing with the Christ Child
oil on copper, with the painted emblem of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni centre left; in a Roman carved and gilt wood frameunframed: 38 x 31 cm.; 15 x 12¼ in.framed: 51 x 44.5 cm.; 20⅛ x 17½ in.Condition reportThe following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Francesco Trevisani The Madonna sewing with the Christ Child Oil on copper, in a period gilt wood frame with some minor wear The panel is flat and without any surface distortion or irregularity. The paint layer is stable and secure. Under u-v light, fine remains of an old discoloured varnish is seen scattered across the surface along with finely applied restoration to mitigate minor pitted paint loss. Most of these are concentrated through the top half of the Madonna's dress, with a small amount through her proper right hand and cheek. A small amount of paint loss is visible to Christ's face and proper right hand and to the background. The paint texture through the brushwork is very well preserved and impasted highlights are intact. Fine details are unadulterated and chromatic and tonal subtleties are well maintained and would be improved with the removal of the varnish. The painting presents well.
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.ProvenancePainted for Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740) and probably sold on his death in 1740;Thought to have been acquired by Mary Anne Shelley in Italy in the 1860s;Thence by family descent until sold (‘Property from a Deceased’s Estate’), London, Sotheby’s, 6 December 2007, lot 276 for £180,500;Where purchased by the present owner.Catalogue noteThis exquisite depiction of The Virgin sewing with the Christ Child is a masterpiece by the Roman late baroque painter Francesco Trevisani and can be dated to about 1690–1700. It was made for the artist’s leading patron Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740), whose emblem is displayed on the glass vase on the left of the scene. The painting's high degree of finish and attention to detail is complemented by the copper support, and the beautiful fall of light through the window unifies the intimate domestic scene to make this one of the most refined and poetic works within the artist’s œuvre. The composition exists in one other version, a painting today at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
This painting can be dated to the last decade of the 17th century, when Trevisani enjoyed the protection of Cardinal Ottoboni. As with many of the paintings Trevisani executed for his patron, Ottoboni's emblem of the double-headed eagle is included, in this case on the vase of flowers centre left. In Trevisani's portrait of the Cardinal in the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, the emblem appears twice, on the bell and on a chair in the background.1 As Ottoboni's 'painter-in-residence' from the late 1690s, living under his roof at the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome, Trevisani painted numerous pictures for him. By 1698 Ottoboni had two pictures by Trevisani in his collection and, as a mark of the esteem in which he held the painter, in 1709 he sought to secure a knighthood for the artist, albeit unsuccessfully. Trevisani was however finally granted one in 1730 by Cardinal Coscia, along with a pension of 300 scudi.2 
This is one of two known versions of the composition by Trevisani; the other, in the Uffizi, is dated by DiFederico to 1690–1700 and is of approximately the same dimensions as this copper.3 The Uffizi version may have been painted as the right-hand pendant to the artist’s Dream of Saint Joseph, also in the collection of the Uffizi and also executed on a copper support of approximately the same dimensions.4 
The present painting is not listed in the inventory of the Cardinal's goods drawn up after his death on 5 March 1740.5 Olszewski has argued that the omission of a number of key commissions from the inventory, such as Trevisani's Holy Family in the Cleveland Museum of Art, and indeed the overall low number of his paintings listed there (only thirty for approximately four decades of service), suggests that a substantial proportion of Trevisani's paintings was disposed of before the inventory was completed. Olszewski further argues that if pictures from Ottoboni's collection were indeed sold after his death, those by Trevisani would be the obvious choice, being both of the greatest value and not bound by the complicated primogeniture restrictions (fidecommissio) that affected so much of Ottoboni's collection as a result of it being inherited from his uncle Pope Alexander VIII.6  
After leaving the Ottoboni Collection the painting remained untraced until the nineteenth century, when it is believed to have been acquired in Italy in the 1860s by Mary Anne Shelley, a forebear of the previous owner. Mary Anne Shelley was the granddaughter of Samuel Shelley (1750–1808), a miniaturist and founder member of the Royal Watercolour Society, and cousin of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley She lived in Florence during the 1860s after the death of her husband and became a close friend and supporter of Garibaldi.
1 F. R. DiFederico, Francesco Trevisani Eighteenth-Century Painter in Rome, Washington 1977, p. 73, no. P5, reproduced pl. 100.2 The Dead Christ with Angels at Stanford and The Three Maries in a private collection, California; DiFederico 1977, nos 24 and 25.3 DiFederico 1977, p. 46, no. 30, reproduced pl. 24.4 DiFederico 1977, p. 46, no. 29, reproduced pl. 23.5 E.J. Olszewski, The Inventory of Paintings of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740), New York/ Oxford 2004.6 DiFederico 1977, pp. 10–11.