DOI article:
Miziołek, Jerzy: Introduction: Forgeries over the ages
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23901#0015
INTRODUCTION: FORGERIES OVER THE AGES
men, who pay more attention to the appearance than to the reality, there are
some to be found at any time"10.
If one accepts the version that it was Milanese who "gave the sculpture
an antique look", we would have an example of an intermediary, so
important in later centuries, who contributed to a work "in the old style"
that became a forgery11. Evaluating such incidents is extremely complicated,
because the sculpture was produced by a genius, and moreover in an era in
which Antique art was considered an ideal, unattainable perfection. The
sculpture has not survived, but there are several suggestions that a large group
of sculptures, engravings and drawings depicting Cupid are more or less
faithful copies of the young artist's composition. One of these is supposedly
a drawing by Bartolomeo Passarotti (fig. I)12. An echo of it could perhaps
also be found in a sculpture by Francesco Lazzarini made for King Stanislas
Augustus Poniatowski (1764-1798) ca. 178013. This beautiful sculpture is to
be found in the tazienki Palace in the heart of Warsaw (fig. 2). As many as
four different versions of the Sleepingputto are portrayed in a famous drawing
from the 17th century housed in the Royal collection at Windsor Castle14.
Lazzarini's Cupid, though not winged, clearly makes reference to at least one
of these portrayals. Passarotti's drawing of the Sleeping putto is also not
winged. The problem posed by this early work of Michelangelo and its
imitations is still far from being resolved. Moreover, it is probable that the
artist in executing his work adapted an Antique model. Several Antique
representations of Cupid gathered by Reinach at the beginning of the last
century, and recently recalled by Claudia Ceri Via, are very similar to
numerous alleged copies of the famous and controversial Sleeping Cupid5.
The Renaissance artists' cult and admiration of Antique art is perfecly
exemplified by the well-known drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck
depicting one of the gardens in Rome (fig. 3)1S. Among many classical
sculpures and reliefs we see here Michelangelo's Bacchus which is shown as
an Antique and partially damaged statue. Thus, in a way this drawing might
equally be considered a forgery.
The fascination with the Antique during the Renaissance, and
subsequently during the Enlightenment, resulted in a great number of
works of art almost perfectly imitating masterpieces of classical art
Nowadays it is very difficult to ascertain whether these are copies and thus
cannot be claimed to be originals - or whether they are simply forgeries. It
is also tends to be difficult to determine whether such imitations were made
in the 15th or as late as in the 18th century. Among examples of such works
are the famous relief depicting the Recognition of Hippotoon (the son of
Neptune and Alope) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (fig. 4)
and several sculptures now housed in the Radziwitt Palace in Nieborow
(formerly in the gardens of Helena Radziwiti in Arcadia) which will be
discussed later. In the former, there is now no doubt that it is a specific kind
of "compilation" comprising motifs taken from Roman sarcophagi. One of
the figures - a standing man, shown on the very left-hand edge of the relief
- is an almost faithful copy of Michaelangelo's famous statue of Christ
Resurrected housed in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
Therefore, the post quern date for executing the relief depicting The
Recognition of Hippotoon would be 1521, which is the year in which
Michaelangelo's statue was completed. This was the dating suggested,
11
men, who pay more attention to the appearance than to the reality, there are
some to be found at any time"10.
If one accepts the version that it was Milanese who "gave the sculpture
an antique look", we would have an example of an intermediary, so
important in later centuries, who contributed to a work "in the old style"
that became a forgery11. Evaluating such incidents is extremely complicated,
because the sculpture was produced by a genius, and moreover in an era in
which Antique art was considered an ideal, unattainable perfection. The
sculpture has not survived, but there are several suggestions that a large group
of sculptures, engravings and drawings depicting Cupid are more or less
faithful copies of the young artist's composition. One of these is supposedly
a drawing by Bartolomeo Passarotti (fig. I)12. An echo of it could perhaps
also be found in a sculpture by Francesco Lazzarini made for King Stanislas
Augustus Poniatowski (1764-1798) ca. 178013. This beautiful sculpture is to
be found in the tazienki Palace in the heart of Warsaw (fig. 2). As many as
four different versions of the Sleepingputto are portrayed in a famous drawing
from the 17th century housed in the Royal collection at Windsor Castle14.
Lazzarini's Cupid, though not winged, clearly makes reference to at least one
of these portrayals. Passarotti's drawing of the Sleeping putto is also not
winged. The problem posed by this early work of Michelangelo and its
imitations is still far from being resolved. Moreover, it is probable that the
artist in executing his work adapted an Antique model. Several Antique
representations of Cupid gathered by Reinach at the beginning of the last
century, and recently recalled by Claudia Ceri Via, are very similar to
numerous alleged copies of the famous and controversial Sleeping Cupid5.
The Renaissance artists' cult and admiration of Antique art is perfecly
exemplified by the well-known drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck
depicting one of the gardens in Rome (fig. 3)1S. Among many classical
sculpures and reliefs we see here Michelangelo's Bacchus which is shown as
an Antique and partially damaged statue. Thus, in a way this drawing might
equally be considered a forgery.
The fascination with the Antique during the Renaissance, and
subsequently during the Enlightenment, resulted in a great number of
works of art almost perfectly imitating masterpieces of classical art
Nowadays it is very difficult to ascertain whether these are copies and thus
cannot be claimed to be originals - or whether they are simply forgeries. It
is also tends to be difficult to determine whether such imitations were made
in the 15th or as late as in the 18th century. Among examples of such works
are the famous relief depicting the Recognition of Hippotoon (the son of
Neptune and Alope) in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (fig. 4)
and several sculptures now housed in the Radziwitt Palace in Nieborow
(formerly in the gardens of Helena Radziwiti in Arcadia) which will be
discussed later. In the former, there is now no doubt that it is a specific kind
of "compilation" comprising motifs taken from Roman sarcophagi. One of
the figures - a standing man, shown on the very left-hand edge of the relief
- is an almost faithful copy of Michaelangelo's famous statue of Christ
Resurrected housed in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
Therefore, the post quern date for executing the relief depicting The
Recognition of Hippotoon would be 1521, which is the year in which
Michaelangelo's statue was completed. This was the dating suggested,
11