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 painting seems to be restored well and should be hung in its current condition. What appears to be the original frame is also very presentable. The piece itself has some patches of very bright gold, but I do not necessarily doubt their period. The panting has been retouched to reduce some thinness in the gowns of the figures and angels, and in the woodwork of the cross. Some of the decorative surroundings may have been slightly retouched as well. There seem to be fewer retouches in the faces of the figures. The restoration that does exist is very good, and it is recommended that the work be hung in its current state.
"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."

This crucifixion scene appears to have been taken from a missal, later laid down on pine panel, and would most likely have been the opening page of the hymn, Te Deum Laudamus (You, God, We Praise).  This anonymous master is so named after a predella to a lost altarpiece in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, showing the Birth of the Virgin  (inv. no. A47) which, given its exceptional quality, was formerly thought to be by Andrea di Cione, called Orcagna.  The Master of the Ashmolean Predella trained in Orcagna's workshop in the 1360s, continuing his work there following his master's death when the workshop passed to his brother, Jacopo di Cione, in 1368.  He is known to have assisted Orcagna in the Saint Matthew  triptych in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 1890 no. 3163) between 1367-68 and has also be identified as the collaborator in Jacopo's elaborate, large scale Crucifixion altarpiece in the National Gallery,  London (inv. no. NG1468) which dates to 1369-70.¹

We are grateful to Laurence Kanter who, based on the facture of the head of Christ, suggested an attribution of this lot to the Master of the Ashmolean Predella, having inspected the work firsthand.

1.  L. Kanter, Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence, 1300-1450, exhibition catalogue, New York 1994, p. 193.