Name: GIROLAMO NARDINI (SAN ANGELO IN VADO, NEAR PESARO 1450-1516 ?)
Brand: A donor in front of a frieze
Price: 26000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

GIROLAMO NARDINI (SAN ANGELO IN VADO, NEAR PESARO 1450-1516 ?)
A donor in front of a frieze
oil on panel, unframed
24¹⁄₂ x 32¹⁄₂ in. (62.3 x 82.6 cm.)
inscribed 'RAPHAEL VRBINAS [P]I XIT A·D·M·V·I' (upper centre)

with Oscar Klein, Central Picture Galleries, New York, where acquired by,
Michael Allen Fuleihan, by whom sold through the Silberman Art Gallery, New York, for $650,000 in 1935 to,
The Detroit Institute of Arts, until 1948, when returned to the following in exchange for two paintings, one of which was Degas, Morning Ride to,
Michael Allen Fuleihan, by whom sold in 1950 to the following,
with Oscar Klein, Central Picture Galleries, New York.
Private collection, South America, 1950-1952.
Anonymous sale; Plaza Art Galleries, New York, 6 March 1975, when acquired by Michael Allen Fuleihan and John A. Shaw.
Anonymous sale; Millea Bros., Boonton, NJ, 19 April 2015, Lot 2129.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, South Kensington, 28 April 2016, lot 57.

W.R. Valentiner, ‘An unknown Raphael’, Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit, XV, no. 2, November 1935, pp. 18-27, as by Raphael.
E. Wagner, ‘Ein unbekannter Raphael’, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, Berlin, V, 1936, pp. 288-291, as by Raphael.
‘Neuerwerbung eines Raffael’, Pantheon, Munich, XVII, 1936, pp. 98-99, illustrated.
W.R. Valentiner, ‘Zu dem Neugefundenen Raphael’, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, Berlin, VI, 1937, pp. 327-329, as by Raphael.
S. Ortolani, Raffaello, Bergamo, 1942, second ed. 1945, third ed. 1988, p. 21.
F. Zeri, 'Me Pinxit: 9. Raffaele Arcangelo e Raffaello Sanzio', Proporzioni: studi di storia dell'arte, Florence, 1948, II, pp. 178-180, as by Nardini.
E. Camesasca, Tutta la pittura di Raffaello, I Quadri, Milan, 1956, second edition 1962, pp. 82-83.
L. Dussler, Raffael. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Wandbilder und Bildteppiche, Munich, 1966, no. 23.
L. Dussler, Raphael: A critical catalogue of his pictures, wall-paintings and tapestries, London and New York, 1971, p. 58.
N. Nicosia, Historical-technical study and considerations regarding the fragment's authenticity: "The Donor" by Girolamo Nardini (end 1400 - beginning 1500), Urbino, 1999.

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Lot Essay

In 1935, when acquired by the Detroit Museum of Art, this picture was believed to be a newly rediscovered work by Raphael. During the subsequent campaign of restoration, the naked foot of Saint Sebastian was revealed, proving that the picture was a fragment of a larger altarpiece, probably a Sacra Conversazione with the Madonna and Child amongst Saints with a donor in prayer beneath. The presumed signature, the primary reason for the attribution to Raphael, had not altered during the cleaning process, and was therefore considered genuine.

In 1948, Federico Zeri reported the discovery of a cache of around 200 photographs (op.cit.), probably dating to the end of the nineteenth century, and possibly once belonging to a dealer or scholar. Amongst these images was an altarpiece with the Madonna and Child enthroned on a pedestal, flanked by Saint Sebastian to her left and the Archangel Raphael with Tobias to her right. Below the Virgin’s throne and on the pedestal, a Latin inscription read: 'Franciscus. Ugucionus. De. Pergula. Quadrerius / Ac. Exercitus. Magr. // Mi. Et. Exc///.Emtissimi.D / Guidiubaldi. Urbini. Ducis Santeq. Ro. Ec. Genera. / Capita. Tpre. San. D. N. D. Iulii. II. Sacellum. Hoc. Beate. Vir. / Arcan. Raphaeli. Divoq. Sebast. Erexit. Ano. D. M. V. I'. Beneath this inscription appeared a donor in prayer, before a frieze, and this lower section was recognised by Zeri as the Detroit Raphael.

After studying the altarpiece as a whole, Zeri concluded that it could not have been painted by Raphael but rather by one of the Nardini brothers, probably Gerolamo. However, this re-attribution raised the question of the signature, which had survived the restoration process and was therefore believed to be genuine. In response to this, Zeri turned his attention to the epitaph below the Madonna which read: 'Arcan. Raphaeli. Divoq. Sebast. Erexit. Ano. D. M. V. I'. This final line is that which appears just over the donor and corresponds to the signature in the fragment. Given that there was no evidence of a signature in the photograph of the entire altarpiece, that final sentence of the epitaph, which contains the word 'Raphael' already, must have been transformed into the signature that is now visible.