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Francesco Botticini (Florentine, 1446-1497) THE VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH SAINT JAMES AND SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST Tempera on panel 55 x 56 ¼ in (140 x 143 cm.) Provenance: Stefano Bardini; his sale, Christie's, 7th June 1899, lot 356, as attributed to Botticini; bought by Leo Nardus (d.1955), Suresnes, near Paris; Arnold van Buuren, Haarlem; with him in 1925; bought by Mr and Mrs Peter Harris, 1955; with Peter Harris in 1963; with Clement Jeremy Harris in 1965; thence by descent. Exhibited: Birmingham, 'Italian Art', 1955, no. 22, as Botticini; Wildenstein & Co, London,'The Art of Painting in Florence and Siena from 1250 to 1500', Feb-April 1965, no. 62, as Botticini Literature: S.Reinach, 'Repertoire des Peintures', 1910, III , no. 339; Bernard Berenson, 1963, p. 146, pl.1055, as attributed to the Master of San Miniato; Lisa Venturini, 'Francesco Botticini', Edifir, Florence 1994, no. 26, p. 110, fig. 30; Everett Fahy, 'L'archivio fotografico storico di Stefano Bardini', Florence 2000 Further to the literature cited above, Everett Fahy of the Metropolitan Museum, New York, has kindly re-confirmed the autograph status of this work (written communication April 2008) Botticini began his apprenticeship in the workshop of Neri di Bicci in Florence at the age of thirteen, but stayed for only a short period; he later established his own workshop. The more significant influences on his work were Andrea Verrocchio, under whom he studied, Andrea del Castagno and, later, both Sandro Botticelli and Filippino Lippi. Indeed, an engraving of this composition was reproduced by Reinach as by Filippino. Many of the paintings now accepted as autograph Botticini works had been previously attributed to, among others,Verrocchio, Cosimo Roselli and the Master of San Miniato, to whom our picture was given by Berenson. The Three Archangels with Tobias of 1474, for instance, now in the Uffizzi, Florence, was believed to be by Verrocchio. Much of the earlier uncertainty in positively identifying Botticini's oeuvre was due to the lack of documented works. There is only one recorded commission, in 1484, from the Compagnia di Sant' Andrea for the Tabernacle of the Holy Sacrament for the Church of Sant' Andrea in Empoli, which was finally installed in 1491. It is now displayed in the Museo della Collegiata di Sant' Andrea in that city. There are clear similarities both in composition and detail between our picture and other altarpieces now accepted as by Botticini. The Madonna and Child with four Saints in the Musee Jacquemart-Andre in Paris (Venturini no. 20) depicts the Madonna in similar pose but facing left, with the Infant Christ standing on her lap, also in an architectural setting with stepped throne and trees seen beyond a high wall. A full condition report is available on request.