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 not been recently restored, but if the paint layer were dusted and lightly varnished, it would be presentable as it is. The reverse does not appear to have been tampered with, and the incorporated frame seems to be original. No recent retouches are visible under ultraviolet light, but there is a slightly fluorescent quality to the varnish, which could suggest that there are retouches beneath this varnish. Close examination of the figures does not suggest a lot of retouching; the background and the sky appear to be similarly well preserved. However, the dark cloak of the Madonna may have suffered slightly, as is very often the case. The work can be cleaned, but this does not seem absolutely necessary.
"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."

It was Everett Fahy who first named this master after the Adoration of the Magi with Saints Paul, Francis, and John the Baptist in the monastery church of San Francesco in Fiesole painted circa 1490.¹ In his article, Fahy speculates that the artist may have been Filippo di Giuliano (1449-1503), who shared a workshop with Jacopo del
Sellaio and with whom he shares stylistic links (see E. Fahy, Some Followers of Domenico Ghirlandaio, New York and London 1976, p. 169). In 1483 Filippo di Giuliano is recorded as working with Domenico Ghirlandaio on the decoration of the Sala dei Gigli in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, but no firmly attributable works have yet come to light to substantiate such an identification. The Master of the Fiesole Epiphany's work has more recently been discussed by Padoa Rizzo² in the exhibition catalogue Maestri e botteghe: pittura a Firenze alla fine del Quattrocento.³ 

In the present work we find the Madonna tenderly holding the Christ child, a departure from The Master of the Fiesole Epiphany's more usual arrangment of the Child laying on the ground with the Madonna kneeling in adoration, as is found in the Fiesole altarpiece itself.

We are grateful to Nicoletta Pons for suggesting the attribution to The Master of the Fiesole Epiphany, based on photographs.

1. See E. Fahy, "Some early Italian pictures in the Gambier-Parry Collection", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CIX, March 1967, pp. 128-39.
2. See A. Padoa Rizzo, "L'altare della Compagnia dei Tessitori in San Marco a Firenze...", in Antichità Viva, vol.XXVIII, 4, 1989, pp. 17-24.
3. Exhibition catalogue, Florence, Palazzo💦 St༺rozzi, 1992-93, pp. 163-64.