Achille de Clemente, Florence;
His sale, New York, American Art Association, January 15, 1931, lot 495, for $1,200 to Hearst;
William Randolph Hearst, New York and Los Angeles, until 1948, by whom bequeathed to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1948 (acc. no. 48.5.7).

M. Salmi, "Spigolatura d'arte Toscana", in L'Arte, 1909, vol. VII, p. 179;
Bulletin of the Art Division. Los Angeles County Museum, Summer 1950, vol. 3, p. 17, no. 3 (as Mariotto di Nardo);
B. Berenson, "Quadri denza casa; il Trecento fiorentino, III", in Dedalo, XI, 1930-1, p. 1300, reproduced, p. 1308 (as by a follower of Mariotto di Nardo);
Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, exhibition catalogue, Stockholm 1954, 13, cat. no. 6;
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. 13, cat. no.6, reproduced (as Mariotto di Nardo);
B. Berenson, Homeless Paintings of the Renaissance, London 1970, p. 123 (as by a follower of Mariotto di Nardo);
B. Fredericksen and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1972, p. 591 (as Mariotto di Nardo);
S. Schaefer, et al., European Painting and Sculpture in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles 1987, p. 64, reproduced (as Workshop of Mariotto di Nardo);
S. Caroselli, Italian Panel Painting of the Early Renaissance, Los Angeles 1994, pp. 31, 36, 40, 101, reproduced.

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. This panel has been recently restored. The reverse is not reinforced and although it has shown signs of woodworm in the past, in the upper portion of the panel particularly, the reinforcements have been removed and there is wax applied to the reverse to fill or shore up some of these areas of invasion by the woodworm. The panel is made from two pieces of wood joined vertically through the center. The join is not visible on the surface of the painting, which is stable despite showing a few large cracks, particularly visible in the black cloak of the Madonna. The paint layer has been cleaned, varnished and retouched. The gilding may have been enhanced and the frame has received some restoration. The remainder of the picture has been quite sparingly and accurately restored. The restorations are not clearly visible under ultraviolet light, except for in the face of the Madonna and Child where small losses have been retouched. The saints themselves are much better preserved. Between the wheel of Saint Catherine and the saint on the left there is a group of restorations. It is most likely there are other restorations here and there, yet none of great significance. This picture has been well and accurately restored and is in good condition, particularly given its period.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Although attributed to Mariotto di Nardo when in the collection of William Randolph Hearst, this panel is now widely considered to be a product of Mariotto's workshop. As early as 1930 Bernard Berenson had in fact cast the attribution into doubt, but it appears in subsequent publications of the 1950s and in Fredericksen and Zeri's 1972 census of North American public collections as fully attributed to Mariotto. The design and positioning of the Madonna and child certainly echo those of several autograph works, namely the central panel of his triptych in Panzano, Pieve di S. Leonino,¹ as well as the Madonna and child with angels and SS. Lawrence, John the Baptist, Anthony Abbot, Nicholas, Philip and Bernard in Siena, Palazzo Saracini.² Prof. Miklos Boskovits, who inspected the painting in Los Angeles in the 1980s, considers the painting a se💛rial product from the artist's late phase and one therefore in which it is impossible to determine the level of involvement of the master himself.

1.  See B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School, vol. I, Greenwich (Ct.) 1963, p. 132, reproduced plate 530.
2.  Berenson, op. cit., 1930-1, reproduced p. 1304.