The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. These paintings on copper are both in very good condition and if the varnish were to be freshened slightly, they could be hung in their current state. The edges are slightly uneven but in general, the copper is stable and will support them. The paint layers have been cleaned and varnished. There are a few isolated retouches, none of them addressing any more than discoloration or paint loss around the edges. In general the condition is very good. A small amount of varnish and attention to perhaps a discolored retouch here and there will suffice.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Celesti worked not only in Venice but also in Padua, Rovigo, Treviso and Vicenza. He trained in the Venetian studios of Matteo 🔯Ponzone and Sebastiano Mazzoni. It was Mazzoni who encouraged the development of a Baroque style, but Celesti was also attracted by the naturalism of the tenebrists. He was greatly influenced by the Vicentine painter Francesco Maffei, who transmitted not only something of his often hectic style, but also his great admiration for Jacopo Bassano, Tintoretto, Strozzi and above all Veronese.

In both the present pictures, the pyrotechnics associated with Mazzoni (probably derived from Cecco Bravo) are eminently present; in this they are close to Celesti's The Virgin liberating a City (Venice, Chiesa dei Carmine) and The Israelites sacrificing the Idols (Dresden, Gemäldegalerie), with echoes of Tintoretto and even Palma Vecchio. Their figure types and paint handling are also close to The Finding of Moses (Reggio Emilia, Civic Museum).

In Amnon's outrage on behalf of his sister Tamar the surprising device of the table's dramatic foreshortening into depth recalls Tintoretto's famous Last Supper (Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore). The paintings left by Luca Giordano during his Venetian sojourn from 1685 led to a lightening of Celesti's style both in tonality and the volume of his figures. This influence is apparent in the present pictures, in their palette of white, yellow, coral and blue, looking forward to the early Rococo of Sebastiano Ricci. Celesti's distinctive staring eyes and pointed features and extremities are present in both these pictures: his work sometimes seems to prefigure the Romantic movement, as in one of his rare portraits, Count Alberto di Baone (Dublin, National Gallery), executed in a𓆏 dazzling array of colors.

After 1684 he worked extensively in Brescia, later setting up a workshop there and providing large canvases for many churches as well as for S💫alo and a number of small towns around lake Garda.

The st💞ory depicted in the present pictures is drawn from the Old Testament. David's son Absalom had a sister named Tamar. She was raped by her half-brother Amnon, another of David's sons. The king refused to punish his son, and Absalom for two years secretly nursed the determination to avenge his sister. He invited Amnon to a sheep-shearing and had him slain as he was feasting in his tent.