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The Agamemnon mask: the greatest hoax?
The Agamemnon mask would be a fake, indeed, a mockery. Past January 6 2022 was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Heinrich Schliemann, one of the most controversial but also the most fascinating characters in the history of modern archeology. Well, just in these...
“The scientist and the forger workshop”: we need a shared protocol to identify fakes
How to authenticate a work of art? How to reveal forgeries? On 2 and 3 December 2021, as a result of an excellent initiative of the Italian Group of the International Institute for Conservation, the workshop “The scientist and the forgery – Scientific methodologies to...
“The scientist and the forger workshop”: we need a shared protocol to identify fakes
How to authenticate a work of art? How to reveal forgeries? On 2 and 3 December 2021, as a result of an excellent initiative of the Italian Group of the International Institute for Conservation, the workshop “The scientist and the forgery – Scientific methodologies to...
A scientific approach is always crucial. Even museums know it!
The case of the Ludwig Museum in Cologne is very topical, with the exhibition “Russian Avant-garde at the Ludwig Museum: original and fake. Questions, research, explanations“, which sees works certified as authentic (for example by Kazimir...
Art World
Are artworks luxury items?
The EU opens up to reduced VAT for the art sector. Which countries will seize this opportunity? For decades, the main market for art in Europe was the British one, thanks also to low taxation. However, following Brexit, the UK’s share of the global art market has...
Art is not far from war. War is not far from Art
When Nazis and fascists looted homes and churches, the artworks were often repainted to disguise them. Through diagnostic analysis, the history can be uncovered. You might wonder how our world, the world of art scientists, could be involved with war and with freedom?...
Coups au cœur
Why visit TEFAF, one of the most beautiful antique shows in the world, if you're not a museum director or a collector with a seven-figure budget? Perhaps to grasp the opportunity to see wonderful artworks that in many cases will have appeared for the last time in a...
Requiem for authentications by foundations and archives?
A foundation is not always right: all acquitted in the Bolzano trial related to five alleged fake "De Dominicis" The evidence brought by the prosecutor, namely the De Dominicis Foundation, which argued the inauthenticity of 5 works from a private collection, was...
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Discoveries and attributions
Berenson and Lotto: Intertwined Destinies
A documentary in cinemas and on TV, featuring Art-Test Two emigrants who found success far from home: Berenson and Lotto, who, in turn, brought success to one another. Because, of course, there are trends in art too—and influencers have always existed. Bernard...
What is Artemisia worth?
A rare painting recently went to auction in Florence:"Half-length, with her head resting in her hands and her elbow on a red damask cushion, the beautiful and melancholic Cleopatra holds the venomous asp that threatens her exposed breast with a fatal bite.” (cit.)...
Did Leonardo create it?
The Flora Sculpture at the Bode Museum Underwent a New Dating Method Leonardo da Vinci is today as much a media phenomenon as an artistic one, but public interest and curiosity about his figure have persisted for many decades, if not centuries. Since at least the 19th...
Forgeries on display at Ara Pacis
Who Verifies the Authenticity of Exhibited Objects? It is generally assumed that if a work is selected for an exhibition and included in the catalog, it is deemed authentic by experts. Many rely on the idea that published works are automatically genuine, but recent...
Caravaggio in Florence
An Exhibition to Discover Not Only the Painter and His Canvases, but Also Roberto Longhi and Anna Banti, Who (Re)Discovered Caravaggio From March 27 to July 20, 2025, Villa Bardini in Florence will host the exhibition Caravaggio and the Twentieth Century: Roberto...
Who painted “La Dama”?
The Restoration and Analysis Reveal the Secrets of Pollaiolo’s Lady at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum The latest restoration of the painting Lady at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan has been completed. As often happens with careful restorations, the painting has revealed...
Art-Test in action
Art-Test participates with diagnostic tests to the restoration of 1100 m2 mosaics of the Baptistery in Florence
The large project for the Baptistery has entered its final phase. It is supported by the Opera del Duomo and started in 2014 with the restoration of the external facades and roof covering. The project will conclude by 2028 with the restoration of the approximately...
In Florence a wonderful exhibition on a powerful woman: Leonor de Toledo, who married Cosimo de’ Medici
In Palazzo Pitti an exhibition was recently inaugurated which marks the culmination of the studies on a decisive figure in the nascent Duchy of Florence, in the first half of the sixteenth century. And this figure is exceptionally a woman, Donna Leonor Álvarez de...
Have restorers at the National Gallery of London gone mad.. again?
The UK approach to restoration has been the focus of many controversies since the 1840s, and it is today again under attack. Following three-year extensive work, ‘Nativity’ by Piero Della Francesca returned to public display: a Christmas present to the Gallery...
Where to go, what to see
Between a gift to the aunt and the one to the nephew, plan a gift for yourself! Treat yourself to time! A good use of it is certainly going to exhibitions. We did. We have seen three nice ones. Three different genres. Three different cities. Here our review...
Art-Test and SpeakART to join forces and offer additional services to collectors
Digitise, preserve, share A software that revolutionizes the art and collectibles sector, simplifying the management processes of the life cycle of an asset and offering effective support for every event and for every need. SpeakART is the ideal platform for a simple...
The Icon of the Blessed Virgin of St Luke of Bologna
Legend, history, art and diagnostics A volume has just been published by Pendragon that traces the history of the Bolognese icon known as the Virgin of Saint Luke, which dominates the city from Monte della Guardia where it is kept. The volume traces back the sources...