Francesco Maria Rondani Lot n° 2007

Francesco Maria Rondani The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist Oil on panel. 54.2 x 43.4 cm. Provenance Collection SB, Geneva (stamped twice with dolphin's shield). - Private Collection, Lyon, until 1999.- With Accademia Fine Art, Monte Carlo in 1999/2000. - Christie’s, New York 26.5.2000, lot 75. - DELI-collection, Monaco. The proceeds from this lot and Lempertz´s commission will be donated to humanitarian aid in the Ukraine. Correggio - no artist working in Parma in the early 16th century could escape the influence of the great master, who renewed painting in the Emilia region with his frescoes and altarpieces. This was also true of Francesco Maria Rondani, born in Parma in 1490. Rondani worked with Correggio on important commissions in his native city, such as the frescoes in San Giovanni Evangelista or the decoration of the Del Bono Chapel in the same church. He was also involved in the decoration of the cathedral of Parma in the 1520s The present work shows the stylistic closeness to Correggio's art, but also certain individual characteristics of Rondani. The figures are more clearly outlined and the sfumato characteristic of Correggio is toned down accordingly. In this respect, the figures reveal similarities to a signed panel by the artist in the Galleria Nazionale di Parma, which shows the Madonna with Child, St. Augustine and Jerome, as well as to a Madonna and Child in the Museo Nazionale di Capodimnote in Naples. Due to the apparent influence of the Ferrara school, namely of its most important representative Garofalo, it has been suggested that the present panel could be dated to the 1530s.