Niccolo di Pietro Gerini (Florence, 1368-1415), probably pupil of Taddeo Gaddi (Florence, 1290-1366), Virgin and Child with the Saints John the Baptist, Dominic, Peter and Paul. Tempera on panel, gold ground, shaped top, 81.3 x 49.5 cm. Courtesy Kunstberatung Zurich AG

The overall design of this work matches the small-scale devotional panels that were very popular in the wake of the Black Death, but the decorative patterning of the background seems to be unique in the painter’s oeuvre.

Provenance: private collection, Rome, before 1920, and in Italy until at least 1925; private collection, France; Alexander M. Bing, New York; Gift of Alexander M. and Mrs. Florence Bing to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1948 (acc. n° 48.1)

Literature: R. van Marle, ‘Italian School of Paintings’, vol. IX, The Hague 1927, pp. 244 and 246, ill. n° 158 (as Andrea di Giusto Manzini); Los Angeles County Museum Bulletin of the Art Division, Summer 1950, vol. III, n° 2, p. 18 (as Andrea di Giusto); ‘Great masters of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600’, exhibition catalogue, Vancouver 1953, p. 15; ‘Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection’, exhibition catalogue, Stockholm 1954, p. 15, n° 9; P. Wescher and E. Feinblatt, ‘Los Angeles County Museum, Catalogue of Paintings I: Catalogue of Italian French and Spanish Paintings, XV-XVIII Century’, Los Angeles 1954, p. 15, n° 9, ill. (as Andrea di Giusto Manzini); R. Longhi, 'Review of Los Angeles County Museum, Catalogue of Paintings I: Catalogue of Italian French and Spanish Paintings, XV-XVIII Century', in Paragone-Arte, vol. I, November 1954, p. 64 (where he states that the attribution to Andrea di Giusto is untenable);B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections , Cambridge, Massachusetts 1972, p. 591 (as Florence, 14th century); S. Schaefer, ‘European Painting and Sculpture in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’, Los Angeles 1987, p. 104, ill. (as Florentine); S. Caroselli, ‘Italian Panel Painting of the Early Renaissance’, Los Angeles 1994, pp. 16, 94-5, ill.

Exhibition: ‘Great masters of the Italian Renaissance, 1400-1600’, Vancouver Art Gallery and Winnepeg Art Gallery 4 October-15 December, 1953

Pieter Huys (Antwerp, circa 1519-1581/84), The harrowing of hell. Oil on panel, 27 x 39.5 cm. Courtesy Kunstberatung Zurich AG

A Flemish Renaissance painter born into a family of artists, Huys worked as an engraver for the typographer Hieronymus Cock and for Christoph Plantin. In 1545 he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke. He was influenced by Hieronymus Bosch (‘s-Hertogenbosch circa 1450-1516 Oirschot), although his figures are more lifelike and he used stronger colours.

David Rijckaert II (Antwerp, 1586-1642),  Still life with trays of oysters, dried fruit, chestnuts and sweets. Oil on panel, 46 x 75.3 cm. Courtesy Kunstberatung Zurich AG

David Rijckaert II (Antwerp, 1586-1642), master of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1607/08, contributed to the early development of the still life as an independent genre through his delicate rendering of banquets and sumptuously covered tables

Provenance: private collection, Spain

Kunstberatung Zurich est négociant en tableaux du XVe au XXe siecle des écoles européennes et russes. Il s’impose de ne présenter que des œuvres de grande qualité, de conditions impeccables et dont la provenance est assurée pour satisfaire la demande des collectionneurs les plus exigeants. Fondé en : 2007

Kunstberatung Zurich AG. Stand 9c. Brafa Art Fair, 21-29 janvier 2017