Two Parisian sales: Tajan and Sotheby’s

12/12/23 - Art market - Paris - It is a great pity that the two Pietro Lorenzetti paintings to be auctioned by Tajan on December 13 are being sold separately (ill. 1 and 2). They come from the famous collection of Alfred Ramé, magistrate, medievalist and archaeologist, who acquired them in 1860 and left them in the hands of his descendants.

1. Pietro Lorenzetti
(documented in Siena from 1306 to 1345)
Saint Silvestre
Egg painting and gold ground on panel - 69.8 x 37 cm
Sale Tajan, Paris, 13 December 2023
Photo : Tajan

See the image in its page

2. Pietro Lorenzetti
(documented in Siena from 1306 to 1345)
Saint Helen
Egg painting and gold ground on panel - 69.8 x 37 cm
Sale Tajan, Paris, 13 December 2023
Photo : Tajan

See the image in its page

They are most probably from the same altarpiece, perhaps for Franciscan commissioners, although their iconography and purpose remain unknown or at least debated. The two three-quarter bust saints are turned to the left, perhaps in the direction of the Virgin and Child, which must have been in the center. The altarpiece of which they were a part was certainly composed like Duccio’s in the Pinacoteca in Siena: on either side of the Virgin are saints with, in the upper part, smaller figures of prophets or patriarchs. These small, half-body figures bear a phylactery with their name, which is not always legible. All the figures, large and small, are adorned with a particularly refined halo of punched motifs. The modeling and rendering of the flesh, the delicate gestures and facial expressions bear witness to the artist’s talent.
According to the Turquin cabinet, these two saints are Saint Silvester, the pontiff who baptized Constantine I, and Saint Helena, mother of the Roman emperor. However, there are no attributes to confirm their identity. The fanciful tiara worn by the male figure, encircled by an oriental, if not Byzantine, crown at its base, can be found on a fresco by Maso di…