Lot 210: Attributed to Jacopo Negretti, Palma il Vecchio (Serina, nr. Bergamo c. 1480-1528 Venice)

Attributed to Jacopo Negretti, Palma il Vecchio (Serina, nr. Bergamo c. 1480-1528 Venice)
Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Mary Magdalene, Peter and Peter Martyr
oil on panel
29¾ x 41 3/8 in. (75.5 x 105.1 cm.)

Leeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art, 1868, no. 100, as 'Palma' (lent by Lord Scarsdale).

Catalogue of the Pictures, Statues & c. at Kedleston, 1778 and 1786, 'In his picture the Magdalen seems to have been repainted by Correggio.'
G. Lipscomb, A Description of Motlock-Bath, 1802.
T. Borenius in W.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in North Italy, ed. T. Borenius, London, 1912, III, p. 358, note 2, as 'Palma'.
P. Rylands, Palma il Vecchio, L'Opera Completa, Milan, 1988, no. 21, as 'Imitatore di Palma il Vecchio'.

John Barnard, his inscription on the reverse with no. 79.
Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726-1804), Kedelston Hall, Derby, by 1778, and by descent to the present owner.

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This picture, which had evidently been repainted as early as 1778, is the only known version of the composition and was designed by Palma. His personal involvement could only be assessed after cleaning.

John Barnard (d. 1784), whose inscription on the reverse is similar to his collectors mark (Lugt 1420), is better known for his holdings of drawings than for his pictures. He lived in Berkley Square and collected from the 1730s onwards. The pictures he returned were sold by his nephew and heirs, Thomas Hankey, at Christie's, 7-8 June 1799.