Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 90-91.(Budapest, 1999)
SCHMIDT, VICTOR M.: A Duccesque Fragment of the Coronation of the Virgin
A DUCCESQUE FRAGMENT OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN The purpose of what follows is to clarify some of the problems regarding the attribution and provenance of a Duccesque fragment of the Coronation of the Virgin (fig. 12) in the Szépművészeti Múzeum (inv. no. 16). The painting is first recorded in the collection of the painter and lover of early Italian painting, Johann Anton Ramboux (1790-1866), who attributed it to the Sienese painter Niccolo di Segna. 1 Later on, it was ascribed to Niccolo's father, Segna di Bonaventura, who, together with Ugolino di Nerio, was the greatest exponent of the Duccesque tradition after Duccio's death ca. 1318. 2 Some scholars, however, moved the painting closer to Duccio himself. Curt Weigelt regarded it as a late product of Duccio's workshop and Gertrude Coor related it to the Maestà in the cathedral of Massa Marittima, which she attributed to Segna, but which is nowadays rightly considered one of the last works by Duccio himself. 3 No doubt the most spectacular proposal was made by Alessandro Conti, who tentatively attributed the fragment to Duccio and suggested that it originally was nothing less than * I wish to thank Vilmos Tátrai for his kind help during a visit to the museum in November 1997, Elwin Köster for making the computer reconstructions, and Molly Paries and Anneke de Vries for their comments on the text. 1 Catalog der Gemaeide alter italienischer Meister ( 1221 1640) in der Sammlung des Conservators J. A. Ramboux, Cologne 1862, 18, no. 92; Catalog der nachgelassenen Kunst-Sammlungen des Herrn Johann Anton Ramboux, Conservator des städtischen Museums zu Coeln. Versteigerung zu Coeln am 23. Mai 1867... durch J. M. Heberle (H. Lempertz), Cologne 1867, 20, no. 92. The attribution to Niccolô di Segna is accepted by Boskovits, M., Frühe italienische Altarbilder, Budapest 1966, no. 15, and Stubblebine, .1. FL, Duccio di Buoninsegna and his school I, Princeton 1979, 154. 2 Van Marie, R., The development of the Italian schools of painting II, The Hague 1924, 143-144. (close follower of Segna); Bcrenson, B., Italian pictures of the Renaissance, Oxford 1932, 523; Coor, G., Trecento-Gemälde aus der Sammlung Ramboux, Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 18(1956) 111-131, esp. 112; Pigler, A., Katalog der Galerie Aller Meister 1, Tübingen 1964, 634; Berenson, B.. Italian pictures of the Renaissance. A list of principal artists and their work with an index of places. Central Italian and North Italian schools I, London 1968, 393. Brandi, C, Duccio, Florence 1951, 154 and 162 considers it a work of an «anonimo duccesco». 3 Weigelt, C. H., Die sienesische Malerei des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, Leipzig 1930, 73; Coor, loc. cit. (Note 2). For the Maestà in Massa Marittima, see Stubblebine, op. cit. (Note 1 ) I, 71 74, II, figs. 150 159; Mostra di opère d 'arte restaurate nelleprovince di Siena e Grosseto, 2nd ed., Genoa 1981,25-30, no. 6; Ragionieri, G., Duccio. Catalogo completo dei dipinti (I gigli delFarte), Florence 1989, 144-145; Carli, E., /„ 'arte a Massa Marittima, 2nd ed., Massa Marittima 1 995, 51-59.
