Authentications & Attributions

tombaroli-3

You always have to be a step ahead of the tomb rider

, , 0

Sono aperte le iscrizioni alla Scuola di Archeologia Giudiziaria

Unfortunately, the world of archaeological heritage is increasingly subjugated by criminal practices. The mind immediately goes to the infamous “grave robbers” who have plundered and still plunder our soil and our seas in search of antiquities.

But this practice has also been documented, for example, to the detriment of the Medici tombs.

The portraits of the Medici family, especially those of women, display their splendid jewels, with which they were often buried. As early as 1857, the director of the State Archives and Grand Ducal Antiques Dealer, Luigi Passerini Orsini de’Rilli, in charge of the Reconnaissance of the bodies of the Grand Dukes, found that many of these had been desecrated and deprived of the precious objects they contained.

How to defend yourself?

Archaeology, and art in general, need more and more competent professionals.

The fight against criminal activities in this sector passes through the institutions set up by the States, with the help of professional, who operate in the judicial and extra-judicial sphere, with adequate and complete academic preparation.

In this context  that the Centre for Criminological Studies – Cultural Heritage Area – Judicial Archaeology Department in collaboration with the Archeomafie International Observatory, is programming a BIENNALE SCHOOL OF HIGHER EDUCATION on  “JUDICIAL ARCHEOLOGY AND CRIME AGAINST CULTURAL HERITAGE“, where Art-Test’s experts will teach.

The school is aimed at graduates in archaeology, history of art, architecture, conservation of cultural heritage, restoration and other disciplines in the legal and humanistic sectors.

For those interested here is the link: https://bit.ly/3mWTV6x

 

(Emanuela Massa)

(Emanuela Massa)

copertina modigliani

Modigliani under Investigation

, , , 0

Life, death, his fortune, the inheritance he left, the history of the “Archives”, fakes, foundations, exhibitions.

Already in January we discussed the innovative exposition that the Museum of Lille created for Amedeo Modigliani. An exhibition with an investigative approach. But, given the pandemic we are in, it was not possible to open it, and also the related Symposium did not take place.

But the scrutiny of the Labronian painter and his work, does not stop. “L’affare Modigliani” published by Chiarelettere is a book rich of information, all supported by references to sources. It tackles all the hot topics, including fakes and the role of foundations. Three hundred pages where the story is organized into “crime scenes“. where each topic is treated with scientific rigor.

Our favourite chapter is of course the one where Modigliani’s technique is illustrated through material analysis. Of course, we would have liked it to be even more detailed but we realize that a substantial appendix would have been necessary.

If you haven’t read it yet, waiting for the French exhibition, Art-Test recommends it.

(Emanuela Massa)
(Emanuela Massa)
copertina RETRO

What’s behind it?

0

A year has passed, we have 12 months behind us in which our life and our work have changed.

Looking back to understand the present is part of our work, as is the careful study of the “back” of a painting.

Very often the “verso”, “back” of a work makes the “front”, the “recto” more understandable. We know that artists from the 15th century began to sign their works on the front, but in recent times many chose to put their signature on the back, also indicating a date.

But in addition to the signature, true or fake, on the back we can find stamps, labels, codes: each of these elements is an important fact in the reconstruction of the work’s past.

Codes referable to the cataloguing in a collection or to lot number in an auction. Stamps imposed by protection offices or customs and labels of various kinds. But even this kind of data can be forged. The first doubts may arise during a careful condition report, but specific diagnostic analyses can be targeted to understand if they are original elements. For example, a colour label, created with a dot matrix printer, cannot be produced for an exhibition in 1975 !

Perhaps not everyone knows that the court case of one of the most famous contemporary counterfeiters: Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fisher), began with a label on the back of a painting bearing the words “Collection Flechtheim“, when it was known that Flectheim was indeed an important collector, but never put labels.

In short, looking at the back is as important as studying the front. Knowing a “verse” well, helps us to better understand the “front”. In the same way we must look at this past year with attention to understand well  our present and thus try to imagine our future.

(Emanuela Massa)

(Emanuela Massa)

piattino montanari 2

Precious colours of the empire

, , 0

The recent discovery of a very rare Chinese porcelain reminds us of another remarkable discovery for Eastern art and technique in which we were involved.

A few days ago, thanks to a search started in 2014, a RU bowl belonging to the Song dynasty was identified within the collection of the Dresden museum. A similar specimen was auctioned, and sold, in 2017, to the record price of 37.7 million dollars.

For the exclusive use of the imperial court, the colour of these porcelain is a particular blue shade made possible by the presence of agate. Poetically it is described as “blue of the sky in a clearing of the clouds after the rain”.

The subject of the discovery made by working together with S.T.Art-Test and the scholar Riccardo Montanari,  on an object of oriental origin too, was also colour, and its trade and use in the East.

The original aim of the research was to demonstrate how non-invasive investigations could be alternatives to micro-destructive ones and diriment in the authentication of oriental porcelain. Thus, favouring non-invasive diagnostics, the study featured a polychrome enameled Mukozuke porcelain, also very rare, produced in the Kan’ei period.

In particular, the analyses investigated blue and yellow pigments. The yellow surprisingly turned out to be Naples Yellow, a novelty for Japanese production. A somewhat destabilizing discovery.

But this data was crossed with historical sources, and it was possible to understand how the Jesuits imported, in their mission to Japan, the Renaissance technique of majolica decoration and therefore the use of this yellow pigment.

Only later, did the Japanese potters transfer this know-how to their Chinese colleagues.

Another step in the endless journey of research. Here is the article for those wishing to read more

(Emanuela Massa)
(Emanuela Massa)
Leonardo_da_Vinci_or_Boltraffio_(attrib)_Salvator_Mundi_circa_1500

Leonardo and the magic world of auctions

0

The renewed controversy over the attribution of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi calls for a reflection on how it has become all-important not so much to choose which painting to buy but which attribution.

We have seen several times how the purchase of some artworks was later refused because of a disputed attribution. Indeed, the painting does not change, but the attribution does, and it makes all the difference.

A typical path is that of the so-called dormant attributions, or works initially proposed in generalist auctions, which after a few years acquire credit , with new more prestigious attributions, and become among the objects of most interest of important circuits. The carousel often does not end there. Because the prestigious attributions are then challenged and questioned. And again the economic value changes.

Logically, one would think that the more important the proposed name is, the more thorough the testing, and, therefore, more certain and definitive the attribution.

Moreover, since the auction is governed by a sales contract, one could imagine that among the documents available to the buyer there must be also the results of a standardized scientific diagnostic campaign – not limited at mere photographic snapshots or involving the use of other not appropriate instrumentation, but following a specific protocol.

But in reality these cases are still rare.

In the magical world of auctions, unlike in other fields, the buyer is not allowed, for example, to appoint own consultants to check the documents exhibited or perform new tests.

Take the Salvator Mundi: it was initially a “Boltraffio” at a lesser auction, then it was later proposed as a “Leonardo” with great fanfare. And only today the controversy focuses on the effectiveness of the analyses used and questions whether all  possibilities have been examined.

We wonder, for example, if the recently discovered Salvator Mundi, owned by the Museum of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, has already been studied with a correct scientific perspective or if it will also be taken for a merrygoround.

We know that during the loan for the “Leonardo in Rome” exhibition in 2019, it underwent a restoration and was proposed with an uncertain attribution Girolamo Alibrandi or the beloved Caprotti. But what about a serious diagnostic campaign?

Of course it is not (yet) proposed as a work by Leonardo but nevertheless a complete diagnostic campaign could help to better clarify the genesis of the copies of this subject by the Leonardesque circle. And to record how it is scientifically possible to distinguish an Alibrandi from a Leonardo. And stop the carousel.

(Emanuela Massa)

(Emanuela Massa)

90WZ42MYJ9

Did scientific evidence make all the difference?

, , , 0

Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel, by Sandro Botticelli, was last offered at auction at Christie’s London in December 1982 with the title Portrait of Giovanni de Pierfrancesco de’ Medici and it was sold to the New York real estate magnate Sheldon Solow for a then-record £810,0000 ($1.1 million in today’s currency).

Some eminent scholars at that time including the consultant in the Old Master department at Christie’s, held reservations about the attribution to Botticelli, and preferred to credit his less renowned colleague Francesco Botticini as actual painter.

As we read in The Art Newspaper Mr. Solow, the then buyer, to be reassured about the authorship of the painting asked an art historian go to the saleroom and report back to him. The scholar told Solow that he indeed did not know whether it was a Botticelli or a Botticini, but that it in his opinion it was the epitome of a great Renaissance portrait. Solow bought the picture the following day.

This time the painting had a thorough scientific examination dossier, including XRays, IR reflectography, XRFluorescence and more. The name Botticini never came back and Botticelli sold at at almost 9x price time compared to 1982.

May diagnostics take the credits for this?

(Anna Pelagotti)

 

vangogh

An Xrays can change your life!

, 0

Much of what we know about Van Gogh comes from his correspondence, especially with his brother Theo, collected and published posthumously by Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, his brother’s widow. In one of the letters, dated January 22, 1886, composed while studying in Antwerp at the Academy, Vincent also writes “… this week I painted a big thing with two nude torsos … two wrestlers”, an exercise probably.

This annotation changed the life of the painting “Vase of Flowers”, later “Still life with meadow flowers and roses”, which experts claimed could not be by Van Gogh, despite the signature, because it was too big and too .. crowded. The signature was also in an unusual position, in the upper right corner. The painting hung for decades in a Dutch museum with an incorrect attribution before the X-ray revealed that it was hiding a completely different subject underneath: a boxing match, and, thanks to the letter, only in 2003, it was recognized. autograph to Van Gogh.

Do you want to have fun combining x-rays and paintings? This couple and others are in our game:

Let’s Play! – Art-Test • Art & Technology (art-test.com)

(Anna Pelagotti)

 

modigliani

Modigliani for all

, , 0

Never have paintings raised more doubts on authenticity than those attributable to Amedeo Modigliani.

Even when they are signed, with flawless provenance, doubt lingers.

For years, a painting hwas accepted as authentic only if accompanied by the expertise of very few “connoisseurs”, very often without any scientific dossier or, if existing, only self-referential.

The opinions pronounced by these “names”, even with a faint voice, could, and did, decree the fortune or oblivion of a painting.

Modigliani’s paintings have for years been the subject of studies, sometimes even pseudo-mathematical, on the proportions of the faces or the precise distance of the eyes. But the parameters to establish an authentic Modigliani are still unclear or in any case considered the prerogative of very few. Creating a monopoly that is everything but transparent and scientific.

However,, perhaps also thanks to the many scandals, the situation is changing. Soon there will be a new database to study, new reference elements!

For the first time, the investigations on a substantial number of Modigliani will be presented in an exhibition, and they will be shared. 

Thanks to a powerful diagnostic campaign carried out by C2RMF on 27 paintings, including two copies, and three sculptures, all from public collections, the secrets of Modi’ will be disclosed.

We will be able to dive into diagnostics during the exhibition that will open next February (hopefully), and to listen carefully to what will be discussed during the Symposium on March 17-18.

Starting with Antonia (in the image a collage of the investigations).

 

 

 

(Emanuela Massa)

el greco caen

The discreet charm … of small artworks

, 0

If the History of Art was a big puzzle, there would be many pieces known and exhibited in museums, but just as many kept in private collections … and these are all to be studied and attributed! Each new discovery is a great thrill!
In this case we report about a small piece, but only in its size! It is a painting depicting a “Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns and the cross” owned by a private Catalan collector, previously attributed to El Greco’s workshop or to one of his pupils. The study conducted over two years by the Study Center of Modern Art (Caem) at the University of Lleida allowed for the work to be attributed to the hand of the master El Greco.
We couldn’t help but think of a “piece” that Art–Test had the honor of studying: the “San Giovanni Evangelista and San Francesco d’Assisi” in the Uffizi! The non-invasive, but in any case “in-depth” analyzes, also in this case allowed us to attribute the work to Master El Greco, as we describe here!

 

 

(Federica Fani)

Confronto tra i due ritratti con "medaglione"

A proposal for Botticelli (at auction)

, , 0

“In the past century, and at the beginning of this one, dealing with Botticelli would have seemed madness”, wrote Symonds, a great scholar, specialist of the Italian Renaissance, in 1877. And in 1895, Bernard Shaw followed, among others: “Today ten acres of Carracci, Giulio Romano, Guido, Domenichino and Pietro da Cortona, would not buy an ounce of Botticelli, Lippi or Giovanni Bellini”. And in fact it was only at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that there was an abundant traffic of Botticelli’s works, at gradually increasing prices – and of course also of fakes, including documented ones by Joni.

However, original, exceptional works were also sold. For example, the Bardi family, heirs of the commissioners, sold the Santo Spirito altarpiece (Pala Bardi), now in Berlin.

Pala Bardi, Botticelli

Primitives were very popular, and people came to Tuscany to admire them, study them and buy them (the Horne museum, after all, was born this way).

And today? Botticelli are very rare in the market. Are they still so desirable? Or has taste changed?

This is what we will see on January 28 at Sotheby’s, where a very intriguing painting is auctioned. “The portrait of a young man with a roundel” is in fact per se a puzzle. Who is he? Why is he holding this small portrait cut from a more than a  century older painting?

The closest Botticelli painting we know is the “Portrait of a Young Man with a Medal” from the Uffizi. This medallion is also a “foreign body” embedded in the artwork.

Portrait of a Young Man with Medallion, Botticelli

The investigations on the work at auction (rather complete, with a dossier very similar to the one that Art–Test offers to our customers) refers of an unusual adhesive that is located at the edges of the roundel, and therefore it cannot be said with certainty that the composition we see today was originally so. Maybe he too originally had a medal in his hand?

Is it one of the Botticelli brothers who were goldsmiths, portraying their products? Was they who created the medallions with Cosimo?

In fact, the “sitter” of the Portrait of the Uffizi is also unknown. And, given the similarity with Botticelli’s self-portrait of the Pala with the Adoration of the Magi, the hypothesis of a brother has been advanced.

If it is not his brother, we have an idea. He is an ancestor of John Travolta.

Load More