Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 1 February 1985, lot 11;
There purchased by the present collector. 

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 work is restored and should be hung in its current condition. The canvas is lined. The surface is stable. There is a restoration in the shoulder in the lower left in the pink fabric. There are other small retouches visible here and there under ultraviolet light. A few of the worst cracks have also received retouching. Despite some slight thinness from abrasion, the condition is good overall and the painting looks well.
"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."

Giovanni Battista Salvi, more commonly known as 'Sassoferrato', after the town in which he was born, learned the rudiments of painting from his father Tarquino before embarking on a trip to Rome. There he studied the works of his contemporaries, including Reni, Domenichino, and the Carracci. His greatest influence, however, was Raphael and he is known to have directly copied the latter's compositions (see, for example, Sassoferato's Madonna and Child in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin [inv. no. 482], which is directly based on Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks [National Gallery, London, inv. no. NG6596]). Despite being an accomplished portraitist, Sassoferrato specialized in easel paintings of a devotional nature, usually representing the Madonna alone or with the Christ Child, of which the present composition is an outstanding example. The large number of autograph and studio replicas of Sassoferrato's compositions attest to the popularity they enjoyed within the artist's own lifetime.  The present composition, showing the Madonna gazing upwards towards the heavens whilst in prayer, is derived from a larger Assumption of the Virgin (Tarbes, Musée Massey). Sassoferrato adjusted the composition to create an easel sized version (undoubtedly for the wider market), of which there are further versions, including one in the Accademia Albertina, Turin. 

We are grateful to François Macé de Lépinay for endorsing the attribution to Sassoferrato, based on photographs.