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 has been restored and could be hung as is. The reverse of the panel shows signs that it has been restored to accommodate the curve from left to right. There is a simple cradle and some wooden reinforcements across the top and bottom. Some old erosion caused by woodworm on the left side has also been repaired on the reverse. The structural restoration seems to be very effective. The front of the picture looks very well. The paint layer is stable. There are some retouches across the top edge and along the bottom edge. Within the picture proper, there are retouches in the blue gown of the Madonna in the lower right around her elbow in the center of the painting, and around her shoulder in the center of the right side. There are only a few tiny spots of retouching in the sky. There are some spots in the figure of Christ and two thin lines of restoration running vertically through his left side. There is a line of restoration running in the background to the right of Christ, and another running from the top of one of the trees on the left up to the top edge. The face and hands of the Madonna are in beautiful condition, and the painting is very well preserved overall.
"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 charming composition of the Virgin and Child was popular in the prolific workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio and is known in over eight versions, including one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv. no. 46.1429) and another at the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle (inv. no. BM 40).¹  Although they all follow the same design, there are very slight variations among the various paintings, particularly in the landscapes, decorative borders of the Virgin's fabrics, and the ledge.  In the present work, for example, the elegant frieze with putti surrounding a vase of fruit on the ledge does not appear in the others.  The composition is thought to have been devised by Ghirlandaio to be easily reproduced, and the variants of this composition are ascribed to his workshop, sometimes more specifically to Bastiano Mainardi, Ghirlandaio's pupil and brother-in-law. The figure of the seated and plump Christ with his right hand raised in benediction also appears in another composition popular in the Ghiarlandaio workshop, The Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Three Angels, which is also sometimes given to Bastiano Mainardi and also known in several variants, including one in the Kress Collection.² 

1. See L. Kanter, Italian Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 13th-15th Century, vol. I, Boston 1994, pp. 169-170, cat. no. 49, the former reproduced p. 170, the latter p. 171.
2. This painting was gifted by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the Birmingham Museum of Art (inv. no. 1961.97).  See Masterpieces East & West from the Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, exhibition catalogue, Birmingham 1993.