"Sienese Master, 15th century": circle of il Sassetta?

Nagel, from Germany, sells on 28 February 2019  as lot 701 an "Italian" Madonna estimated at 1,500 Euro.

The description indicates that the back of the painting has an inscription identifying it as a 15th century Sienese Master, showing a Madonna from an Annunciation, and that it was owned by "J. A. Ramboux" who they identify with Johann Anton Ramboux (1790-1866), a major early collector of Sienese art.

The painting to me looks convincing, so it may be an original as described on the back. In that case, it should be worth a lot more, perhaps closer to 10,000 Euro, as a good, attractive example of the common paintings in Siena and surroundings for about 100 years.

The closest artist I have found so far is Stefano di Giovanni, called Il Sassetta, who lived from ca. 1390 to ca. 1450 in Siena. His Madonnas have similar folds in the clothing, similar poses (though the hand position here is unique, even if the hands are the worst part of the painting), similar headdress... The way the face is painted also is quite similar.

There are, always assuming it is an original and not a 19th century fake, probably even better matches to be found by people specialized in this period and region, but it may give an idea about where to look!

UPDATE: sold for 55,000 Euro! Way more than even I expected.

"Flemish School": Master of the Prodigal Son?

Nagel, from Germany, sells on 11 October 2017 a "Flemish School, 2nd half 16th century" Return of Tobias, estimated at 2,800 Euro.

Another version of the same work is listed in RKD as by a Follower of the Master of the Prodigal Son, or Circle of Adam van Noort (thus at Christie's in 1998).

Considering that the work for sale is better than the RKD version, I wonder if it can be attributed directly to the Master of the Prodigal Son.

Another version of the story, attributed to this Master, certainly has some similarities. A link with Adam van Noort seems much less likely.

The work has a low estimate and should fetch closer to 5,000 Euro.

UPDATE: For sale at Hampel on 26 september 2018 for a rather whopping 25,000 to 35,000 Euro! Flemish School, 16th or 17 century, circle of Frans Floris or Marten de Vos. While the previous estimate was clearly too low, the new one seems a bit optimistic.

Sleepers and what happens next: the Sotheby Babel

Sotheby's has in its Old Master sale a "Flemish School, 17th Century" Tower of Babel, estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.

It's a very nice example, not easily placed in the works of a known artist or even closely related to most of the other similar Flemish Babel towers.

It was last sold in October 2014 at Nagel, German auction house. They had estimated it at only 15,000 Euro, but fierce bidding saw it soar to 210,000 Euro. A real sleeper, but slightly more than a year later, it only gets the same estimate as what it sold for two years ago, and without the benefit of being "fresh to the market" (Sotheby's omits the provenance and auction history with a reason, of course). It will be interesting to see if it will sell and if it will make another profit.

UPDATE: sold for $418,000, so about double the previous price and incomparable to the original 15,000 Euro estimate of October 2014!