Lot 164: Simone Peterzano , Bergamo (?) circa 1540 - circa 1596 Milan Madonna and child oil on panel

oil on panel

measurements note 48.2 by 36 cm.; 19 by 14 1/4 in.

Simone Peterzano is perhaps best known for being the first master of the young Caravaggio, who was apprenticed to him for four years after being orphaned by the death of his mother in 1584. Peterzano was a talent in his own right and he claimed to have been a pupil of Titian's; although there is no contemporary documentary evidence to support this he was to sign his Deposition (1583-4) in the Church of S. Fidele in Milan 'S Peterzanus Titiani Al[umnus]', and the claim is further supported by the document dating from 1596 regarding a payment from the Fabrica dell Duomo to 'Simone Peterzano de'Tiziani pittore' for the Annunciation of the Church of Rogorbella (now the Oratorio di S. Matteo alla Banchette, Milan).υ1 The same model would appear to have been used by Peterzano for his Annunciations in the Seminario Dioscesano, Venegono Inferiore, and the Chiesa de S. Maria della Passione.υ2 Both are considered to have been painted circa 1590 and a similar dating for the present work should be considered. 1. E. Baccheschi and M. Calvesi in I Pittori Bergamaschi. Il Cinquecento, vol. IV, Bergamo 1978, p. 473.
2. Idem., p. 529, cat. no. 8, reproduced and p.532, cat. no. 18, reproduced.