Michelangelo in Dispute

The Telegraph Co UK is reporting a wooden carving represented as a Michelangelo and purchased by the Italian government may be a fake. According to the article, the carving of Christ was purchased by the Italian government for approximately $4.64 million, negotiating the price down from $20 million.  The sculpture was then presented to Pope Benedict XVI, the Italian parliament, and then a national exhibition which drew thousands.

The article does not state what testing or authentication review preceded the purchase.  I hope more information is forthcoming and I will try to keep AW Blog readers updated as more information becomes available.

The Telegraph reports

several prominent art experts have said they believe the Christ figure was made by an artist other than Michelangelo.

Francesco Caglioti, an expert on medieval sculptures, told La Repubblica newspaper: "The quality of this work bears no resemblance to those of Michelangelo and every resemblance to the many crucifixes of this kind which were made by artisans in Florence in this period."

Tomaso Montanari, an art history professor at Naples University, said it was "clearly not" a Michelangelo.

A German art historian, Margrit Lisner, said it was probably the work of another Renaissance sculptor, Jacopo Sansovino.

It was first attributed to Michelangelo, after years of scrutiny, by experts from the universities of Florence, Siena and Perugia in 2004.

The director of the Vatican Museums, Antonio Paolucci, said that while there was no cast-iron guarantee that Michelangelo carved the statue, the attribution to the Renaissance genius was based on "very reasonable grounds".

To read the full Telegraph article, click HERE.