Madonna and Child top lot in sale

Madonna and Child with St John done in the style of Italian baroque painter Giovanni Battista Salvi Sassoferrato has been announced as one of the top lots in Chorley’s upcoming Fine Art, Antiques, Asian Art, Jewellery and Silver sale next month in Gloucestershire.

The oil painting, with an estimated value of £15,000-20,000, originally sold at Chorley’s in 2006 for an impressive £21,000 and was the first lot to achieve a five figure sum at the auction house, shortly after it was founded.

The work of art sits in a 19th-century gilt plaster frame and is believed to be by the Italian Baroque painter Sassoferrato who mainly created devotional images of Madonna and other holy figures.

A similar painting to the one for sale is held at the John and Mabel Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. The artist has used the traditional method of chiaraoscuro, the use of strong contrasts of light, to bring voluptuousness and depth to the painting.

The sale takes place on November 21 and 22.