Paduan School, circa 1485

When in Stefano Bardini's possession this organ shutter was still accompanied by the pendant Angel of the Annunciation which the dealer exported to Gebrüder Wolff of Salzburg in 1898, but which was later acquired by Johann II, to match the present picture, which he had purchased from Bardini in 1894. By 1930, however, the pendant had passed to Count Oriola, and is last recorded in the his sale, Mensing, Amsterdam, 13 April 1930, lot 2.

Long attributed to Francesco del Cossa, this ambitious canvas was considered to be by an anonymous but slightly older Ferrarese artist working circa 1460 by Roberto Longhi in his celebrated publication of 1934. Longhi fairly described the Virgin as 'stupenda'. He saw affinities with the early Giovanni Bellini, and, specifically in the companion Angel, found parallels with the work of Tuscan sculptors, including Antonio di Cristoforo, il Baroncelli, who was active in Ferrara in the 1450s and 1460s. Longhi concluded by citing a parallel with the art of Donatello at Padua, the influence of which is implied by Everett Fahy's attribution to a Paduan artist of about 1485. The character of the canvas implies the strong artistic links between the two neighbouring towns, one the seat of an independent duchy, the other--Padua--the most dynamic commercial city of the Venetian terra firma.

Stefano Bardini (1836-1922) was the leading Florentine dealer of his generation and a major benefactor of the city, to which he bequeathed his personal collection, his palace and a garden stretching to the city walls. He sold both pictures and sculptures to many outstanding collectors of the time and Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, bought a considerable number of works from him, including such masterpieces as Filippino Lippi's Arrival of Esther now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and the same artist's Portrait of a Youth in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.