The paper discusses the forgeries of El Greco’s paintings from the twentieth century, dividing them into the following categories: a) modern copies that are the same as the original, except for their format and some minor details; b) reinterpretations of original works, amended in order to appear to be ‘variations’ by the artist himself, using different motifs taken from his other paintings; c) more creative combinations, mixing together inspiration from works by both the painter himself and other artists with whom he was undoubtedly in contact; d) images painted in the style of El Greco, but without any actual reference to known original pieces and, if anything, with details that are quite alien to the world of the master; e) signatures on paintings that were contextually similar to the world of El Greco, and which were granted plausibility as his autograph works thanks to these inscriptions. Many examples are provided, mostly relating to works that have appeared on the art market accompanied by the expert opinion of leading specialists.
In the 1630s, Alessandro Sforza distinguished with crowns several Marian images ‘venerated for antiquity and miracles’, including Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà, carved c. 1500. It was crowned in 1637, although there is no record of any miracles believed to have been worked by it. The contention of this paper is that three reasons might have contributed to the crowning of the Vatican Pietà: its reputation as a devotional image, its connection with an artistic rather than religious notion of miraculousness, and its relationship to other Marian images venerated in the Vatican Basilica (above all, the Madonna della Febbre, crowned in 1631).
This article examines a ubiquitous but little noted piece of furniture: the chair. Power and prestige are connoted when a represented subject is seated, and especially when seated in a special sort of chair, commonly known as a ‘Savonarola’ chair. The article investigates the long history of this specific type of furniture, particularly in Italian Renaissance painting, before turning to the message conveyed two eloquent examples of the symbolic power of the chair and its occupant. In two paintings from the ‘Michelangelo Gallery’ in the Casa Buonarroti (by Anastasio Fontebuoni and Cosimo Gamberucci), we see moments in the artist’s life when an x-shaped ‘seat of power’ is central to the narrative episode represented. In each of these works, the chair is a little noticed, yet eloquent protagonist.
This article examines the sepulchral monuments commissioned by Pius V (1566–1572), which include a mausoleum for himself and three tombs for men he held in high esteem. These projects have never before been discussed together and the author reconstructs the circumstances surrounding each of the commissions to demonstrate the personal and political motivations behind them. The author also considers their use of coloured marbles, looking particularly at how this relates to the paragone between painting and sculpture, concluding that these important papal commissions were not only informed by the reforming demands of their patron but by contemporary artistic theory.
Closed in 1806 and later demolished, the little Franciscan church of San Niccolò ai Frari in Venice was previously decorated with an ensemble of sixteenth-century paintings of great distinction. These included, in addition to a major work by Titian above the high altar, a cycle by Paolo Veronese and his family assistants, also involving his younger contemporaries Paolo Fiammingo and Palma Giovane. Using contemporary documents and early printed sources, the present article traces a history of the church and provides a reconstruction of the original arrangement of these paintings, drawing new conclusions about their dating, patronage, and iconography.