Lot 2012 Dα

This tondo depicts the Virgin Mary kneeling in adoration of the infant Jesus lying on the ground in front of Her. While the Blessed Mother is shown looking down at the Child with hands folded in prayer, Christ looks directly at the observer. A panoramic river-crossed landscape in shades of green and blue which occupies a large part of the upper half of the image can be seen in the background through the two windows. The painting once belonged to the Goudstikker Gallery in Amsterdam, where it was listed as a work by Lorenzo di Credi. It was exhibited in Rotterdam and Amsterdam with the same attribution in 1927 and published in the "Catalogue des Nouvelles Acquisitions de la Collection Goudstikker". Today, however, the attribution to Lorenzo di Credi has increasingly been cast into doubt, and thus the painter of the work is now sought in the Florentine circle of Lorenzo di Credi. When Jaques Goudstikker fled Amsterdam by ship in May 1940 and was killed in an accident during the crossing, the painting remained in his Amsterdam gallery. In the "Black Book" created by Goudstikker it is listed on p. 47 with the collection number 2226.
In accordance with the Washington Principles of 1998 and with the mediation of Lempertz, an amicable settlement has now been reached between Goudstikker's heirs and the work's current owners.