Archive for the ‘Forgeries’ Category

Do you think this is Jesus?

Posted by Gary Vikan on Monday, March 29th, 2010

333I don’t. And I’m pretty sure the editors of TIME knew that it wasn’t back in 1998 when they put it (a detail from the Shroud of Turin) on their magazine’s cover.

The linen of the Shroud had been Carbon 14 dated to AD 1260-1390 ten years earlier, in 1988.  And as it turns out, the Shroud appears for the first time in historical documents in AD 1357 in a small town in France (Lirey, not Remulak).

So you would think it would be obvious, and we (the world at large) would by now have gotten over the Shroud of Turin.

No so.  More than 2,000,000 people, including the Pope, will make pilgrimage to Turin between April 10th and May 23rd this year, to see the Shroud on display (for the first time in a decade) in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Want to hear the whole story behind the Shroud of Turin?  Come on down to the Walters on April 2nd, at 6 pm.

Posted in Art, Forgeries, Religion, The Shroud of Turin, The Walters, Uncategorized | 799 Comments »

Friday from the Walters Vault: The Fake that Wasn’t

Posted by Gary Vikan on Friday, February 12th, 2010

Henry Walters

Henry Walters

In 1903 collector Henry Walters purchased the Vierge Ouvrante or Opening Madonna—an ivory statuette whose front half is hinged and can open(http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=36652).

Closed, the seated Madonna with Christ on her lap is visible, and when opened scenes from the Passion of Christ are displayed.

J.P. Morgan wanted it, but Henry Walters got it, and it was expensive.

In the 1980s  the Vierge Ouvrante was taken off view, and it stayed in storage  for almost 15 years.

Why?

Because this once “unique” piece had three near twins in France, and they had all been condemned as fakes because of clear mistakes in their iconography.

Closed case?  Not so.  Science came to the rescue!

J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan

In 1998, the Walters had the Opening Madonna carbon-14 dated for an exhibition. The test results showed that it dated to around the year 1200, confirming it was genuine.

So, why were there three similar reproductions of the Walters’ Opening Madonna?

During the French Revolution, the Walters Vierge Ouvrante was turned into a children’s toy fit with four small wheels and a pull cord.

Once the French got their religion back, it was sent to Paris to be fixed, by artisans who were very good at repairing works of ivory in the medieval style. They were so expert, in fact, that they decided to make three faked copies. Each was good, but not perfect, and each was sold to a major French collector.

Three collectors were taken, but Henry Walters got it right! And beat out J.P. Morgan.

Posted in Art, Baltimore, Forgeries, Henry Walters, The Walters, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Odd Museums of the World I: FAKES!

Posted by Gary Vikan on Friday, January 1st, 2010

Photo and Hand: GV

Photo and Hand: GV

Now this is a museum I’m pretty sure you’ve never been to, on the northwest edge of Paris.  All of about four rooms, and as many visitors.  
But it can really make you nervous, when you realize that the world is full of fakes.  From Cuban cigars, to replacement hoods for Renaults, to Adidas shirts.
Photo: GV

Photo: GV

So when you see the two side-by-side, the genuine and the fake, it’s pretty easy.  This Izod alligator puzzle is a snap. The one with the too-big teeth and the too-big red tongue, is clearly the dud.

Photo: gV

Photo: gV

 

Photo: GV

Photo: GV

But what do you do when it comes to fake condoms?

CAVEAT EMPTOR! 

Or else!!

Posted in Forgeries, Museums | 4 Comments »