Perugino, Sassoferrato and a 'beautiful little work' in the National Gallery, London

• Autores: Scott Nethersole, Helen Howard
• Localización: Burlington magazine, ISSN 0007-6287, Vol. 152, Nº 1287, 2010, págs. 376-384
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • An essay examining a painting of the Baptism of Christ, initially attributed to Perugino, that was acquired by the National Gallery in London in 1894. Although gallery director Sir Edward Poynter defended his purchase as a “beautiful little work” dated from “the fifteenth (or quite early sixteenth) century,” several eminent critics disagreed, with the work and its attribution going on to become the means by which the late Victorian and Edwardian art world expressed its dissatisfaction with the institution and direction of the National Gallery. However, in recent years, the assumptions that led to the shift in the painting's dating from the late 15th to the early 19th century have been questioned. Explaining why the painting is now understood to be a seicento century copy, this essay explores the different perception of fakes and copies in the 19th and 17th centuries, respectively.