GIOVANNI BATTISTA SALVI, CALLED SASSOFERRATO (SASSOFERRATO 1609-1685 ROME)

This fine composition, showing the Madonna in a moment of prayer, is one of Sassoferrato’s most successful and celebrated devotional works. Another version, of similar dimensions, was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 28 January 2016, lot 40 for $346,000. Although he was a talented portraitist, his great interest in the Renaissance sustained his career, as he copied and reinterpreted compositions by masters in Italy and beyond. He is known to have been influenced by Annibale Carracci and Guido Reni, and in particular Raphael, whose compositions inspired Sassoferrato’s sacred works.