Art historian says Michelangelo portrait hanging in National Gallery is a modern fake
A PORTRAIT of Michelangelo hanging in the National Gallery could be a fake from the Fifties, according to an art historian.
The painting is on display as part of the current Michelangelo and Sebastiano exhibition, which explores the relationship between the great Italian master and his lesser-known contem- porary. The attribution reads “probably by Sebastiano del Piombo” and is dated 1518-20.
The work, in which Michelangelo holds a sketch book and turns towards the viewer, was discovered in 1960. X-ray analysis showed that a scratchedout composition of another image, Madonna and child with the young John the Baptist, lies beneath the paint.
Charles Hope, emeritus professor at the Warburg Institute in London, believes the painting to be a fake produced in the 20th century.
Writing in the London Review of Books, he argued: “Everything suggests that it is a modern fake, probably dating from just before its emergence in 1960, and that the forger took the standard precaution of acquiring an old panel on which to paint it.”
Hope claims that the composition is borrowed from an early Sebastiano portrait of a doctor, Francesco Arsilli, and argues that the artist would not have been so “contemptuous” as to paint over the image of the Madonna and Child.
The National Gallery’s catalogue concedes that “next to nothing” is known of the painting’s history.
Responding to Hope’s claims, a spokesman for the gallery said: “The National Gallery acknowledges that scholarly debate exists around the portrait of Michelangelo.
“Attributions of paintings are based on art historical research and technical results, and with the information available by these means, we chose to present the work in the exhibition.
“Its inclusion is a way to contribute to the ongoing discussion regarding its attribution.”