Koller View 1/20

4 1 Maestro della Misericordia (active 1370–1400). Cru- cifixion. Tempera on gold ground panel. 48 × 23 cm. Estimate: CHF 50 000/70 000 2 Workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550). Two wings from an altarpiece: Joseph and Balthasar. Oil on panel. 70.5 × 24.5 cm each. Estimate: CHF 50 000/70 000 3 Bicci di Lorenzo (1373‒1452). Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine. Oil on gold ground panel. 162 × 81 cm. Estimate: CHF 250 000/350 000 Old Master Paintings Auction on 27 March 2020 Tales on gold ground The panel with the "Crucifixion of Christ" (ill. 1) of- fered in our 27 March auction may have served as the centre of a winged altarpiece of private devotion. The figures depicted – Mary, Mary Magdalene and Saint John – show their stunned emotions at the moment of Christ's death. With this panel (most likely published for the first time here), the "Maestro della Misericor- dia" succeeds in sensitively rendering the Florentine artistic achievements of the period following Giotto; and likely reflects the master's intensive study of works by Taddeo Gaddi and Bernardo Daddi. Bicci di Lorenzo's "Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine" (ill. 3) treats a motif of a highly symbolic nature. Saint Catherine of Alexandria was venerated as a martyr and is considered to be one of the four virgines capital- es , the capital virgins. Many surviving depictions show the Christ Child, Mary and Catherine, accompanied by John the Baptist and Alexander the Great acting as witnesses to the marriage. Di Lorenzo's iconography concentrates on the main characters. As a sign of her martyrdom, Catherine wears a red robe that stands out sharply against the gold ground and connects her visually with Mary. The monumental format of the panel offered here suggests that it formed the cen- tre of a large altarpiece and was probably flanked by representations of standing saints. This motif, on the threshold between late Gothic and early Renaissance, refers to the legend according to which Catherine had a vision of a mystical engagement to Christ. St. Cath- erine was venerated especially in the nunneries that were emerging at the time, and it is possible that the panel was originally made for such a place. Bicci di Lorenzo was born into an artistic dynasty and was a highly successful painter. As the son of Loren- zo di Bicci (circa 1350–1427), he took over his father's flourishing workshop, which received numerous com- missions in and around Florence during the early 15 th century. In 1452, after Bicci di Lorenzo's death, it would be continued in the third generation by his son, the busy Neri di Bicci (1418–1492). Bicci learned his craft first from his father, and later in the workshops of Spinello Aretino and Agnolo Gaddi. Bicci's works on panel, most of them on splendid gilded backgrounds, take part in a tradition that dates back to the 14 th cen- tury and may even be specifically Sienese. More than the numerous frescoes with which he was commis- sioned, they reflect the art of the greatestmasterswho worked in the Tuscan triangle between Lucca, Arezzo and Grosseto. Today, some of his works on panel can still be found in their traditional religious contexts, and others are in the collections of important museums, such as the Vatican Picture Gallery and the Metropoli- tan Museum in New York. Two narrow wings of a triptych depicting Joseph and Balthasar (ill. 2) are evidence of the outstanding paint- erly quality and high standard of the workshop of Peter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550). Van Aelst was a pupil of Bernard van Orley, and worked in Antwerp from around 1522 onwards. Only five years later he was master of the St Luke's Guild there, and was later the teacher of his son-in-law, Pieter Brueghel the Elder. 2 1 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OLD MASTER PAINTINGS Karoline Weser weser@kollerauctions.com ONLINE CATALOGUES www.kollerauctions.com