ADELE BASSI (AMERICAN-ITALIAN, 19TH CENTURY) OLD MASTER-STYLE PAINTING, watercolor and pencil on paper laid on canvas, after Andrea Del Sarto (Italian, 1486-1530) "Madonna of the Harpies", depicting the Virgin Mary standing on a plinth surrounded by Biblical figures, signed on stretcher verso. Housed under glass in a fine old carved Rococo-style frame with original gilt surface. Third quarter 19th century. 37 1/2" x 28 1/2" sight, 51 1/2" x 42 1/2" OA.
Painting in good visual condition with minor scattered surface losses, small tear with old repair lower right corner. Minor scattered wear and losses to frame. Not examined out of frame.


Catalogue Note: Little is known about the 19th-century artist Adele Bassi. She is believed to have been born in New York, but to have studied and worked in Italy for most of her adult life, where she appears to have earned a livelihood selling to the tourist trade highly skilled copies of Old Master paintings then on view in the major Italian city galleries and museums. Recently, a signed work by Bassi bearing the inscription "Picture Gallery, Mme. Bassi, Peinture / Angiolo (Carlo) Dolci, Uffizi Gallery, Florence" was offered at auction, providing some indication of the nature of her artistic work when in Florence and Italy more generally. The present lot is a fine example of her work and clearly demonstrates her abilities and her appeal.

Painting in good visual condition with minor scattered surface losses, small tear with old repair lower right corner. Minor scattered wear and losses to frame. Not examined out of frame.