Italian School, 16th century The Nativity with a choir of angels oil on canvas laid down on panel 52 x 76cm Provenance: John Malcolm; Alfred Gathorne-Hardy, John Malcolm’s son-in-law; to his son Geoffrey Gathorne-Hardy; thence to his nephew, Bob Gathorne-Hardy, and by descent. The Hon. Robert Gathorne-Hardy (1902-1973), known to all as ‘Bob’, was an English writer, botanist and horticulturalist. His uncle, Geoffrey Gathorne-Hardy, inherited a well-known art collection from his aunt’s family, through the great Victorian art collector John Malcolm, much of which is now in the National Collection. Bob kept some of the Old Master drawings from the Malcolm Collection, which were sold soon after his death at Sotheby’s and is referred to as the Gathorne-Hardy Collection. Bob was also a collector of Asian items, which included jade and temple figures, paintings and some Asian items, which have come by family descent and are now offered for sale. Condition report: In the thinner paint passages, such as the faces, a very fine weave canvas support is evident in the surface texture. It seems likely that this is the original painting support. In other areas the texture appears more coarse and this can also be seen in some areas of loss. It would appear that the original fine canvas has been lined onto a coarser weave support before being attached to a wooden panel. The panel has suffered from beetle infestation. Some beetle exit holes are evident on the surface of the painting with the insects now trapped behind the glass. Some of the exit holes appear recent. The original paint layers are worn in many areas. The haloes have been gilded with simple punch work around the edges, techniques usually associated with panel paintings rather than canvas.