Real or Fake #4

Can we fool you? The term “fake” may be slightly sensationalist when it comes to old drawings. Copying originals and prints has formed a key part of an artist’s education since the Renaissance and with the passing of time the distinction between the two can be innocently mistaken.

Although this artist was identified through a group of homogenously handled drawings in the style of Raphael and Timoteo Viti in 1913 by the German art historian, Oskar Fischel, the true identity of the forger remains unknown. Fischel’s 1927 publication in the Burlington Magazine speculated that the author of the group may be an English artist of the early 18th century, although more popular hypotheses propose that the artist is a 17th century Italian.

Whilst some drawings by the artist appear to be honest copies, near facsimiles of original drawings by Raphael and his associate, Viti, others are more interpretative and their purpose open to misconstruction. One drawing by the artist entered the collection of the famous French collector Pierre Crozat (and subsequently the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) as an original Viti. It was even engraved and reproduced as such. It was not until the discovery of Viti’s true original and its subsequent acquisition by Samuel Woodburn that the Crozat drawing was recognised as a copy, however.

The present example is another case in point. One drawing has been identified as a copy, the other, also acquired by Woodburn, is the original drawing. But which is which?

Scroll to the end of the December newsletter for answers.