Italian (Lombard School), c. 1460/70 Circle of Bonifacio Bembo (born c.1420 - died 1482)“Profile Bust of a Woman in an Arcade, Facing right”“Profile Bust of a Man in an Arcade, Facing Left”Tempera on panel laid down on canvas Each size: 35.5 x 29.5 cm. (Both framed)Estimate: 10,000 - 15,000 euro(Condition: Restored but without faults or damaged)PROVENANCE– Private Collection Leo Nardus / Arnoldus van Buuren, Haarlem, confiscated in 1940 by the German National Socialist;– Collection Bankshaus Lippmann, Rosenthal & Co, Amsterdam; (Bank of the Nazis in WW-2)– Auction Mak van Waay, Amsterdam 29 June 1943, lot 18 (as Florentine School);– Private Collection Tromp van Horst, Amsterdam;– 1951 Office for Restoration Payments and Property Restoration of the Dutch Ministry of Finance (Hergo);– Collection Dutch Art Property (Inv. No.: NK 2894 & NK 2895);– Loan to the Institute of Art History, Groningen (NL);– 1987-2009 Permanent loan to the Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht (NL);– 2009 returned to heirs of the Nardus family.LITERATURE– Christopher Wright; ‘Paintings in Dutch museums ‘An Index of Oil Paintings in Public Collections in the Netherlands by Artists born before 1870, London, 1980, p. 197. – Old Master Paintings: an illustrated summary catalogue - the Netherlands Office for Fine Arts at the Hague (= Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, RKD), Zwolle, 1992, No. 2971. – L.J. de Jong-Janssen, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings in the Bonnefanten Museum, (1995), p. 138, fig. 67 & 68. NOTE– In the course of the 20th Century, existing portrait paintings at the end of the 15th Century were largely catalogued as ‘Florentine school’. In 1922 Mikols Boskovits was able to identify these two profile portraits, now offered in our next sale, as Lombard origin of the late 15th Century and as typical examples of this period. According to a verbal report by the previous owner's the attribution of these two profile portraits to the ‘Lombard school’ was also confirmed by Everett Fahy. These portraits were often produced for the frieze decoration that graced the lower edges of the ceilings in the great Lombard palaces of the 15th Century, usually coupled with beautiful coat of arms. The small panels were attached to the upper edges of the walls, forming the exact transition from the wooden beams supporting the ceilings to the wall decorations below. The floral decoration and pearl embellishments of these two profile paintings suggest that these portraits may have come from the same artist's studio as the Sforza paintings. Comparing the style and the manner in the way this female and male have been portrayed from the sides, as well as the architectural surrounds and the backgrounds of both paintings, we can see a strong resemblance to the works of Bonifacio Bembo (c. 1420-1480), now in the Museo provinciale di Torcello in Venice. Another painting similar to this female profile here offered, and also assigned to the workshop of Bonifacio Bembo, is now in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (see: Zeri F., ‘Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery’, Vol I, Baltimore 1976, pp. 293-295, No. 200-201, plate 141). The same strong resemblance you also can find again in the more than 20 portraits in the collection of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, also works of Bonifacio Bembo. The largest series of a total of 98 portraits has been preserved in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan. It was originally made for Ottaviano Vimercati Palace in Crema.The House of Sforza (pronounced was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. they acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th Century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last member of the family's main branch in 1535.Onbekende Italiaanse Meester (Lombardije School, ca. 1460/70) Toegeschreven aan Bonifacio Bembo (Geb. ca.1420 – overl. 1482)“Portret van een dame in een arcade, rechts kijkend”“Portret van een heer in een arcade, links kijkend”Tempera op panel, op doek gemonteerdAfmeting: 35.5 x 29.5 cm.(In lijst)