Copy
One Caravaggio too many?
In ths issue:
 
  • Have we found the Lost Caravaggio?
  • The costs of not doing it
  • 60 years of dreams
  • That’s fair!
  • LuBeC 2019: the possible future of Culture: musea as metropolitan hubs to resist against barbarism?

Have we found the Lost Caravaggio?

In 2006 "Il Caravaggio perduto", by J. Harr, was published. The volume describes the discovery of a painting by the Italian Master that had been lost for centuries. The protagonists are a great art historian and a PhD graduate, who discovers, in the inaccessible and forgotten archive of the Mattei family, in Recanati, the proof that an original by Caravaggio (the Capture of Christ: Jesus surrounded by soldiers and kissed by Judas) had been sold in 1802, with an incorrect attribution, to a Scottish gentleman. It is not a fiction; it is more or less the chronicle of what happened a few decades ago.

As a consequence, the version now in Dublin became the original Caravaggio, after having entered the collection as Gerrit van Honthorst. A splendid subject of which there are many versions.

One is now exhibited at Palazzo Pitti, and a new volume, The Capture of Christ by Caravaggio - A recovery for the Uffizi Galleries , edited by Sillabe, (for now unfortunately only in Italian) summarises the historical, artistic and scientific studies carried out on the canvas previously in storage at the Baldissera Carabinieri Station in Florence.
Thanks to the accurate provenence research that constitutes the heart of the volume, it was possible to ascertain the origin of the canvas from the Lorraine castle of Commercy, not far from the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Nancy where an Annunciation by Caravaggio is kept, probably commissioned by the Duke of Lorraine.
The same castle from which also other works destined for the Florentine grand-ducal collections arrived in Florence in 1737, when the Habsburg-Lorraine took over the regency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Scientific analyses on the painting were performed by Art-Test and generated many interesting surprises, starting with a previous, hidden different version of a soldier, as revealed by the X-ray images.

One thing is certain, we will hear about this painting again. Stay tuned!
 




The costs of not doing it!

The costs for a diagnostic campaign to authenticate a painting may seem high, but they are always a good investment.
Without a painting having positively passed a series of tests to determine the compatibility of methods and materials with the period or the envisaged author, there is the risk of running into a fraud, which can be millionaire and deceive also auction houses of the calibre of Sotheby's.

In this case, the possible scam that led to the arrest of both the painter and the antiquarian involved, covers a total of over 200 million euros and well-known and much-studied authors, from El Greco to Frans Hals.
Naturally it is neither the first nor it will  be the last scam we read about; the chronicles report more and more frequently of similar cases. The market is full of fakes for sale. Counterfeiting of artworks can however be uncovered and indeed, for example, produced other arrests recently in Bologna

How to avoid risking the unwary purchase? Invest in serious scientific analyses, and at a qualified laboratory, not involved in the market.

It is an investment, not a cost. The cost is not the diagnostics, it cost is not to do it!



60 years of dreams

Next 21st September, the BIAF, the Biennial International Antiques Fair of Florence, will open its doors in Palazzo Corsini. It will be sixty years after the first edition, noticeably in a very different context, compared with when one in whitch the Bellini brothers commenced the adventure.

For two weeks the city will attract, also relying on its charm, as the past,  art dealers and collectors from all over the world. Although the antiquarian sector, and Florence, are no longer those in which, for example, Bernard Berenson lived (and died, unfortunately, the same year of the BIAF first edition).

The seventy-seven galleries participating this year are for example specialized in various sectors, including contemporary art. Unthinkable in the days when "Italian Renaissance painters" of the Lithuanian connoisseur became an international bestseller.

The peculiarity of BIAF remains, however, the promotion of Italian art in the market. Paintings, sculptures, drawings, and all other artworks on display, are made by Italian Masters or by foreign artists who worked in Italy.

Sixty years ago connoisseurs like Berenson, who contributed to raise interest in the Italian old master, were unchallenged authorities in attributions. This too has changed today. In the most prestigious international fairs, artworks are admitted to the sale only after having passed a careful scrutiny, done also by scientific means. It is the so-called "vetting". The BIAF also has a Vetting committee. Divided into 3 commissions: Painting and Drawings, Sculpture and Furniture and Decorative Arts. They are formed by art historians, and restorers, of international renown, with an undoubted knowledge and an authoritative preparation.
However, scientific diagnostics seems to be still absent from this procedure, which is essential to guarantee buyers.

Notwithstanding, diagnostics offers more than this. As Maurizio Salomon, an art historian and gallery owner, explains in one of the commercials (#amolarteperche) created to promote the fair. The desire to make a discovery is often the drive for the collector. Finding a “pentimento”, a preparatory drawing, or details that are not visible to the naked eye, makes you fall in love. Few occasions allow you to have this kind of feeling, hopes, dreams. And this is still the same as sixty years ago.



 



That’s fair!

Even if the sector in general appears to be in a bit of a crisis, there are still quite a number of fairs organized on conservation, in Italy and in the world. In our country, this year there will be two within a few months.

In the International Restoration Fair in Ferrara, (18th to 20th September), the eye-catching theme is the project RESTAURO MADE IN ITALY
The goal is to maintain international visibility and reiterate Italy as one of the world's reference points. The fair will also be associated with the first edition of the Restoration Week, which will see the launch of the APT (Association of Preservation Technologies) - European Chapter. A new European network for the restoration and enhancement of cultural heritage. We also signal the interesting conference "The meaning and marketing of restoration in Italy and target Countries: an overview", on Thursday 19th, where the meaning of the term "restoration" in the various countries and cultures will be discussed.

The appointment with the Florence Art and Restoration Fair is from 13 to 15 May 2020, at Palazzo dei Congressi.
Also this year Heritech - the Future of Heritage Science and Technology - scientific conference, will be organized in the same period and place of the trade show and this is why Art-Test has chosen to participate in this event.

The 1st edition of FLORENCE HERI-TECH - The Future of Heritage Science and Technologies, two years ago, welcomed leading researchers and scholars from all over the world to present and discuss innovative techniques and technologies. The proposed contributions were 180, with the involvement of public institutions, universities, companies and museums. Art-Test Florence, which has always actively participated in research, had presented 4 papers, and was awarded "for the commitment and constant study in the search for new scientific approaches" with the Palazzo Spinelli Award "Research and Development of new technologies qualified for cultural heritage".
We are still preparing the contribution for the 2020 edition, and knowing that Florence will become the international heart of restoration and cultural heritage, we will be proud to be part of it.




 



LuBeC 2019: the possible future of Culture: musea as metropolitan hub to resist against barbarism?

Among fairs dedicated to cultural heritage, Lucca Cultural Heritage (LuBeC), now in its fifteenth edition, has found a specific place. Its original and original vocation is to participate in the debate between public administration and business and to generate concrete actions for a culture that produces not only economic but also social results.

The landscape of public cultural heritage management is inevitably changing and LuBeC focuses on this transformation in different areas.

The increasing digitization, with new tools and ways of management, is addressed in the "digitalization, archive and open data" area.

The reflections proposed in the other spaces, examine the need to adapt to this change and manage it in the best way, guaranteeing its economic, social and environmental sustainability and promoting public participation in cultural activities.

It becomes relevant to question how much the culture industry can be incisive on the economic and social balance of a city or how much making everything "usable" to tourists, especially in some places already saturated, won’t let citizen feel extraneous to their territory. This reflection inevitably binds the vision of a museum as a cultural hub and a center of social education and therefore a place in which to form the conscience of citizens. This, in particular, could be the mission of civic museums. The defense of the territory and its enhancement inexorably pass through the shared knowledge of its history. An objective that can be achieved using, for example, new tools such as gamification, which are appealing, especially for new generations.

All the themes proposed in this edition are also in line with the European Agenda for Culture. LuBec will thus contribute to the international debate on what are the synergies to be implemented to contribute to the smooth functioning of culture as a fundamental cog in gears of society.

The LuBec awaits us on 3 and 4 October. The program and info on inscriptions at this link: https://www.lubec.it/en/exhibiting-lubec-digital-technology.html


 

Copyright © *|2019|* *|Art-Test sas|*, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are in our personal       
mailing contacts.  
  


Our mailing address is:
Art-Test Sas
Via Santo Spirito 11- FlorenceITA 50125 - Italy

Website:
www.art-test.com
Facebook: Art-Test Firenze
Instagram: Art_test.fi
Twitter: @ArtTestFirenze
YouTube: Art Test

unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences 

 







This email was sent to <<Indirizzo email>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Art-Test Sas · Via Santo Spirito 11 · Florence, Italy 50125 · Italy

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp