,transcriber's ,note ,text preceded by a caret symbol and enclosed in curly braces was superscripted in the original book2 text enclosed in equals signs was in boldface2 and text enclosed in underscores was in italics4 ,,the ,,gentle ,,art ,,of ,,faking ,the ,new ,art ,library 8,the admirable ,new ,art ,library40--,connoisseur4 ,,new ,,volume4 ,perspective4 ,as applied to pictures1 with a section dealing with architecture4 #dgb ,illustrations4 #ahs4 nett4 ,by ,,rex ,,vicat ,,cole4 8,makes perspective quite fascinating4--,aberdeen ,journal4 8,an indispensable book to the student of art40--,daily ,graphic4 ,,recently ,,issued4 ,water ,colour ,painting4 ,by ,,alfred ,w4 ,,rich4 #fj ,illustrations4 #ajs4 #f;d4 nett4 8,mr4 ,rich's work has placed him among the comparatively few water-colourists of to-day who count1 and the work of his students proves that he can teach40--,saturday ,review4 ,the ,artistic ,anatomy of ,trees4 ,by ,,rex ,,vicat ,,cole4 ,over #ejj ,illustrations4 #aes4 nett4 8,like all the volumes of the ,new ,art ,library1 thorough in its teaching1 eminently practical in its manner of presenting it1 and splendidly illustrated40--,connoisseur4 ,the ,practice and ,science of ,drawing4 ,by ,,harold ,,speed4 #if ,illustrations4 #ajs4 #f;d4 nett4 8,no work on ,art has been published in recent years which might be more advantageously placed in the hands of a young student4 ,every page shows robust common sense expressed in a clear style4444 ,we imagine that ,mr4 ,speed is an admirable teacher1 and cordially recommend his treatise40 --,athenum4 ,the ,practice of ,oil ,painting and ,drawing4 ,s4 ,j4 ,,solomon1 ,r4,a4 #hj ,illustrations4 #ajs4 #f;d4 nett4 8,if students were to follow his instructions1 and still more1 to heed his warnings1 their painting would soon show a great increase in efficiency40--,manchester ,guardian4 ,human ,anatomy for ,art ,students4 ,by ,sir ,,alfred ,,downing ,,fripp1 ,k4,c4,v4,o41 #aei ,illustrations4 #aes4 nett4 8,combines the best scientific and artistic information40--,connoisseur4 ,modelling and ,sculpture4 ,by ,,albert ,,toft1 ,a4,r4,c4,a41 ,m4,s4,b4,s4 ,with #aai ,illustrations4 #aes4 nett4 8,will be found an invaluable aid to the student4444 ,takes the student step by step through the various technical processes1 the text being supplemented by over a hundred excellent illustrations40--,studio4 ,,seeley1 ,,service ,,co41 ,,ltd41 #ch ,great ,russell ,st4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,supposed ,,portrait ,,of ,,the ,,poet ,,bastianini ,,benivieni4 ,a direct cast from the original now in ,paris and formerly kept in the ,louvre ,museum4 ,,the ,,gentle ,,art ,,of ,,faking ,a ,,history ,,of ,,the ,,methods ,,of ,,producing ,,imitations ,,spurious ,,works ,,of ,,art ,,from ,,the ,,earliest ,,times ,,up ,,to ,,the ,,present ,,day ,,by ,,riccardo ,,nobili ,,author ,,of 8,a ,,modern ,,antique0 8,le dernier mot de l'art je le trouve dans la contrefaon0 ,,sainte-,,beuve ,,with #ca ,,illustrations ,,london ,,seeley ,,service ,,co4 ,,ltd4 #ch ,,great ,,russell ,,street #aibb ,,to ,,mrs4 ,,mary ,s4 ,,shepard ,,with ,,the ,,devoted ,,affection ,,of ,a ,,son ,,this ,,book ,,is ,,dedicated ,,preface 8,collectomania0 may with some reason be looked upon as a comedy in which the leading parts are taken by the ,collector1 the ,dealer1 and the ,faker1 supported by minor but not less interesting characters1 such as imitators1 restorers1 middlemen1 et hoc genus omne1 each of whom could tell more than one attractive tale4 ,in analysing the ,faker one must dissociate him from the common forger2 his semi-artistic vocation places him quite apart from the ordinary counterfeiter2 he must be studied amid his proper surroundings1 and with the correct local colouring1 so to speak1 and his critic may perchance find some slight modicum of excuse for him4 ,beside him stand the ,imitator1 from whom the faker often originates1 the tempter who turns the clever imitator into a faker1 and the middleman who lures on the unwary collector with plausible tales4 ,it is not the object of this volume to study the ,faker by himself1 but to trace his career through the ages in his appropriate surroundings1 and compare the methods adopted by him at various periods of history1 so far as they may be obtained4 ,ethically1 there is a strict line drawn between the imitator and the forger1 but in practice this line is by no means rigid4 ,many imitators place their goods before the public as imitations2 others tacitly permit their work to be sold as genuinely antique1 influenced no doubt by the fact that though possibly the imitation and the original may possess equal merit1 the one is handicapped by modernity1 the other is hallowed by age4 ,the inexperienced and unwary collector is in most cases the innocent originator of fraud2 if there were no buyer there would be no seller4 ,too often fashion leads folly1 and so fictitious values are created1 and as demand increases so1 too1 do the sources of supply1 but unhappily they are frequently not legitimate4 ,,riccardo ,,nobili4 ,,ville ,,marie1 ,,via ,,dante ,,da ,,castiglione #c1 ,,florence4 ,,contents ,,part ,i ,,the ,,birth ,,and ,,development ,,of ,,faking ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,greeks ,,and ,,romans ,,as ,,art ,,collectors #ag ,,ii4 ,,collectomania ,,in ,,rome #bd ,,iii4 ,,rapacious ,,roman ,,collectors #cf ,,iv4 ,,rome ,,as ,,an ,,art ,,emporium #dd ,v4 ,,increase ,,of ,,faking ,,in ,,rome #eg ,,vi4 ,,decadence ,,of ,,art ,,and ,,consequent ,,changes #fc ,,vii4 ,,the ,,renaissance ,,period #fh ,,viii4 ,,imitation1 ,,plagiarism1 ,,and ,,faking #hc ,,ix4 ,,collectors ,,of ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century #aja ,x4 ,,collecting ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,england #ajg ,,xi4 ,,mazarin ,,as ,a ,,collector #aad ,,xii4 ,,some ,,notable ,,french ,,collectors #abi ,,part ,,ii ,,the ,,collector ,,and ,,the ,,faker ,,xiii4 ,,collectors ,,and ,,collections #ace ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,collector',s ,,friends ,,and ,,enemies #aej ,,xv4 ,,imitators ,,and ,,fakers #afe ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,artistic ,,qualities ,,of ,,imitators #aha ,,xvii4 ,,fakers1 ,,forgers ,,and ,,the ,,law #aid ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,faked ,,atmosphere ,,and ,,public ,,sales #bjg ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,faked ,,article ,,xix4 ,,the ,,make-,,up ,,of ,,faked ,,antiques #bbe ,,xx4 ,,faked ,,sculpture1 ,,bas-,,reliefs ,,and ,,bronzes #bcd ,,xxi4 ,,faked ,,pottery #bdf ,,xxii4 ,,metal ,,fakes #bfc ,,xxiii4 ,,wood ,,work ,,and ,,musical ,,instruments #bgi ,,xxiv4 ,,velvets1 ,,tapestries ,,and ,,books #bhg ,,xxv4 ,,summing ,,up #cja ,,index #caa ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,supposed ,portrait of the ,poet ,bastianini ,benivieni ,frontispiece ,,facing ,,page ,marcus ,aurelius #dh ,diomedes with the ,palladium #gb ,imitations of the ,antique #hh ,marsyas #if ,the ,spinario #abj ,a ,child4 ,by ,ferrante ,lampini #acf ,san ,giovanni #acf ,athlete #add ,the ,battesimo #aeb ,bacchus #aeb ,the ,resurrection #ahd ,piet #ahd ,a ,portrait #aib ,a ,child4 ,by ,donatello #bjj ,an ,imitation of ,roman ,work #bdj ,an ,imitation of ,sixteenth-century ,work #bdj ,a ,mantelpiece #bff ,a ,lamp #bff ,plaquettes by ,various ,artists #bgb ,europa on the ,bull #bhh ,,the ,,gentle ,,art ,,of ,,faking ,,part ,i ,,the ,,birth ,,and ,,development ,,of ,,faking ,,chapter ,i ,,greeks ,,and ,,romans ,,as ,,art ,,collectors ,why the ,greeks by not being collectors in the modern sense were spared faking in art--,how the ,romans became interested in art --,genesis of their art collections--,the first collectors and their methods--,noted citizen's indictment against art plundering of ,roman conquerors--,attitude of noted writers towards art1 and art collecting4 ,the collector1 the chief patron of fakery1 being somewhat of a selfish lover of art1 it is quite natural that the ,greeks1 who saw in art a grand means of public education and enjoyment1 cannot be called art collectors in the modern sense of the word4 ,consequently there was hardly room for sham art in a country where art as the direct emanation of public spirit was rigorously maintained for the sake of the people4 ,it was the temples that became art emporiums--museums that everyone was allowed to enjoy--or free institutions1 like the pinacotheca of the ,acropolis1 the collection of carved stone at the ,parthenon1 the gymnasium of the ,areopagus1 containing a collection of busts of the most celebrated philosophers4 ,with this public spirit in the enjoyment of art ,delphi gathered a famous picture gallery in the oracular temple and1 according to ,pliny1 possessed no fewer than three thousand statues1 one of them being the famous golden ,apollo4 ,from this temple ,nero carried off five hundred bronze statues1 and later on ,constantine removed many of the remaining works of art to ,constantinople4 ,an identical spirit of public enjoyment of art had turned the temples of ,juno in ,olympia1 of ,minerva in ,plata and ,syracuse into veritable museums of art and--curiosities also4 ,the temple of ,minerva at ,lyndon in the island of ,rhodes1 for instance1 contained a cup of electrum 7amber7 offered by ,helen of ,troy1 which was said to have a cavity cut to the exact shape of the bosom of the beautiful wife of ,paris 7,pliny1 ,,xxxiii1 #bc74 ,that the ,greeks at their highest historical level did not indulge in the private and artistic delights of the collector may also be gathered from the poor construction of their usual dwelling-houses4 ,it is well known that thieves1 more especially in ,athens1 were called 8wall breakers10 and obtained this odd nickname from their peculiar method of entering houses1 namely1 by making a hole through the wall rather than troubling to unlock the door4 ,such flimsy dwellings can hardly have sheltered the treasures of an art collection4 ,thus simplicity of customs and a clearly defined manner of enjoying art1 saved the ,greeks to a great extent from a regular trade in antiques with all its strange and deplorable etceteras4 ,as a matter of fact1 we have no information as to anything that might be called a private art collection in ,athens1 though quite consistently1 considering their extreme passion for knowledge1 the ,greeks had fine private libraries1 such as those of ,aristotle and ,theophrastus4 ,but even these1 though containing the rarest and most precious works1 were true libraries1 not collections of elaborate volumes4 ,the mania for fine bindings of costly materials was later on the caprice of the learned ,roman1 not of the ,greek4 ,the home of the 8collector10 and consequently of his faithful companion1 the faker1 was ,rome4 ,the ,roman was not a born lover of art4 ,in fact during the early and primitive period of its existence ,rome had not only been somewhat negative as regards art1 but was even rather averse from its enjoyment4 ,it took centuries for the ,roman to overcome the belief that matters of art were trifling amusements that might be left as toys to their conquered people4 ,thus for a long time ,romans saw in the enjoyment of art the chief source of the weakening and degeneration of the enemies they had subjugated4 ,springing from a progeny of soldiers and agriculturists1 born to conquer the world1 the ,roman citizen assumed as an aphorism the ,virgilian saying that his sole duty was to subjugate enemies1 by granting them pardon or humiliating their pride4 ,thus the early ,romans not only show great ignorance as to marvels of art1 but even contempt for them4 ,when art treasures were brought to ,rome as booty for the first time by ,marcellus from conquered ,sicily the ,senate censured such an innovation4 ,fabius ,maximus1 called the 8shield of ,rome10 rose among others in protest1 saying that after the siege of ,tarentum1 he1 unlike ,marcellus1 had brought home only gold and valuable plunder4 ,as for statues1 more especially images1 he had preferred to leave to the conquered people 8their enraged gods40 ,in fact the only statue ,fabius took away from ,tarentum was the ,hercules of ,lysippus1 a bronze colossus which must have appealed to him either for its heroic size or the large quantity of material4 ,a type of the early ignorant ,roman art collector is given by ,lucius ,mummius1 the general who destroyed ,corinth1 and of whom ,velleius ,paterculus tells 7,i1 #ac7 that in sending to ,rome what might be styled the artistic booty of the destroyed city he consigned the statues and paintings to those in charge of the transport with the warning that should the goods be lost they would be held responsible and would have to reproduce them all at their own expense4 ,even when with the progress of time art was finally appreciated in ,rome1 the old contempt for it was transferred in a way from the product to the maker4 ,thus with the feeling that seems to characterize the parvenu in art1 and with inexplicable inconsistency1 the ,roman lover of art persisted in seeing in the artist either a slave or a good-for-nothing1 and never for a moment regarded the artist as worth the consideration he granted to art4 ,notwithstanding his belief of being a lover of art and an intelligent connoisseur1 ,cicero calls statues and paintings toys to amuse children 7oblectamenta puerorum74 ,in his fourth oration1 ,in ,verrem1 he candidly confesses that he fails to understand the importance attached by ,greeks to those arts which the ,romans most rightly despise4 ,valerius ,maximus1 who lived at the time of ,tiberius1 that is to say when ,rome had fully completed its education in art1 calls the profession of the painter a vile occupation 7sordidum studium71 and wonders how ,fabius1 a ,roman and patrician1 can bring himself to sign his painting with full name and qualification1 8,fabius ,pictor0 7,,viii1 #ad1 #f74 ,in one of his letters 7,no4 #hh7 ,seneca1 the contemporary of ,nero1 states that sculpture and painting are unworthy to be classified as liberal arts4 ,petronius1 the magister elegantiorum of ,rome1 two hundred years after the destruction of ,corinth1 that is to say when ,rome had reached its maturity in the understanding of art1 calls ,apelles1 ,phidias and other famous artists of ,greece1 crack-brained 7grculi delirantes74 ,with such an innately negative sense of art and strong racial prejudice1 it is not surprising that when brought to an appreciation of art by circumstances1 the ,romans1 though willing and fully prepared to pay extravagant prices for works of art1 should still retain their old contempt for artists1 those grculi delirantes who had come to beautify the ,capital as slaves or tempted by gain4 ,as a result of this peculiar feeling and in full contrast with the ,greek sentiment which has handed down to posterity a great deal about the artists who lived in ,athens and the honours they received1 ,rome has preserved for us hardly a name of painter1 sculptor or architect4 ,and they must have been legion if we consider the magnitude of the work accomplished4 ,vitruvius 7,,vii1 #ae7 informs us that ,damophilus1 ,gorgas1 ,agesilas1 ,pasiteles and other artists were called to ,rome by ,julius ,csar1 and that so many ,greek artists were in ,rome that when the temple of ,jupiter ,olympicus was to be finished in ,athens the citizens were obliged to send to ,rome1 as none of their architects were to be found in ,greece4 ,it is interesting to trace how the ,romans gradually became collectors of art1 and how there gradually developed in ,rome a whole world of lovers of art with all its true and fictitious enthusiasms1 furnishing a group of varied types of collectors not altogether dissimilar from those of our modern society of lovers of art4 ,as we have said1 conquest and booty furnished the first articles of virtu4 ,at first statues and objects of art of all kinds were brought to ,rome without discrimination1 then education gradually progressed1 taste developed and plunder became more enlightened4 ,fulvius ,nobilior1 to quote one of the many conquerors who brought artistic war booty to ,rome1 enriched it with #bhe bronze statues1 #bcj marble ones1 and #aab pounds of gold ornaments4 ,following the custom of the ,greeks1 the ,romans at first presented statues and paintings to various temples as ornaments4 ,later on1 with more discrimination and less greed1 ,roman officials proceeded to a systematic spoliation of ,greece and the ,orient of their treasures of art4 ,statues and paintings followed in the triumphs of ,roman generals as did slaves and prisoners of war4 ,occasionally returning officials brought home with them pillaged artistic mementoes of the place they had been ruling in the name of mighty ,rome4 ,thus ,fulvius1 consul in ,ambracia1 brought home the finest statues of that country4 ,one of these mementoes was excavated in the year #ahfg2 it bore the naive and candid confession of the consul3-- ,marcus ,fulvius ,marci ,filius ,servii ,nepos ,nobilior ,consul ,ambracia ,cepit ,having carried off the statues of the ,nine ,muses in his conquest of ,ambracia1 this same ,fulvius ,nobilior placed them in the temple of ,hercules4 ,at this time ,roman conquerors had progressed1 and they already travelled with experts and advisers4 ,fulvius ,nobilior was accompanied by the poet ,ennius 7,strabo1 ,b4 ,x1 #e71 whose suggestion it may have been to place ,hercules in the midst of the ,nine ,muses playing the lyre like an ,apollo1 a metamorphosis of the god showing that the ,roman had finally harmonized 8,strength10 his chief and most cherished quality1 with the gentler feelings of an understanding of art4 ,this 8,hercules ,musagetes0 seems to symbolize a first conquest of art over the rude1 sturdy ,roman character4 ,departing from the established rule of presenting their artistic plunder to the temples after it had followed in their triumphs to enhance the importance of their conquest1 in time the generals began to keep part of the spoil themselves4 ,in this way were the first private collections in ,rome formed4 ,the real artistic education of the ,romans dates from this time4 ,the passion and ambition to enrich and embellish private houses helped to teach what was worth consideration4 ,sulla1 who plundered ,greece and ,asia ,minor1 is said to have acquired a sure eye for valuable objets de virtu2 ,verres1 who with an excellent eye had robbed and collected all that came within his reach1 was perhaps ,rome's best connoisseur of art4 ,he and ,sulla were practically the first to organize that enlightened manner of plundering subjugated countries that finally made ,rome the first emporium of art in the world4 ,naturally1 these early ,roman collectors rarely bought their articles of virtu4 ,when they could not obtain by pillage they had ready to hand a speedy and coercive means of gratifying their artistic craving4 ,sulla placed on the proscription list the names of all possessors of artistic objects who were so unwise as to refuse to give them up to him4 ,mark ,antony did the same to ,verres4 ,the latter paid with his life his refusal to offer the despotic ,triumvir some famous vases of ,corinthian bronze which he sorely longed to have in his collection4 ,it was1 we repeat1 in ,sulla's time that the passion for collecting arose among the ,romans1 not only guided by an artistic sense of discrimination1 but with all the peculiar characteristics that seem to attend the development of this passion4 ,sulla's collection--to which the spoils of the temple of ,apollo in ,delphi and of the temples of ,jupiter in ,elis and sculapius in ,epidaurus1 considered the richest emporium of art in ,greece1 had contributed--must have been magnificent and without an equal--except1 perhaps1 that of ,verres1 ,sulla's pupil1 who surpassed his master in the art of plundering1 and sacked ,sicily of all the island possessed of art4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,collectomania ,,in ,,rome ,collectomania develops--,rampant parvenuism in ,rome--,extravagant prices paid for art and curio--,faking arrives--,good and foolish collectors as seen by writers and satirists of the time --,art dealing--,the sept1 shops and auction rooms4 ,such was the earliest type of the real collector of art in ,rome1 a first phase in a city where the passion for art was1 generally speaking1 rarely genuine4 ,this phase led first to the acquisition of what might be styled something between ambition and love of display4 ,then the trade in objects of art eventually appeared1 and as a logical consequence1 imitation and fraudulent art finally had their scope4 ,fictitious masterpieces of painting and sculpture1 often signed1 as in modern times1 with the forged names of noted artists1 were already on the market before ,cicero's time4 8,odi falsas inscriptiones statuarum alienarum0 7,i hate the forged inscriptions on statues not one's own71 remarks ,cicero1 who although somewhat of a collector himself never missed a chance to ridicule the pretentious amateur lost in hysterical ecstasy before imitations supposed to be original works1 or of fanning the art lover's pseudo-enthusiasm for the work of ,polycletus1 which was extremely fashionable at one time among art collectors4 ,thus forgery received a great impulse when art reached its climax in ,rome and multiplied the number of collectors1 dragging after it in its triumphal march wealth and all the fickle forces of wealth4 ,taste in art1 then1 became apparently more exclusive1 or rather1 according to ,quintilian1 more unstable in its standards4 8,nowadays10 says the ,latin rhetorician and critic1 8they prefer the childish monochrome works of ,polycletus and ,aglphon to the more expressive and more recent artists40 ,yet1 very likely not understanding this not unusual love for the archaic and the odd1 so common in collectors of all ages1 ,quintilian cannot explain the preference for work he considers gross1 except by fashion or what we should call to-day a snobbish sentiment4 ,criticizing the art in vogue1 he adds1 in fact3 8,i should call this art childish compared to that of most illustrious artists who came afterwards1 but in my judgment it is1 of course1 only pretension0 7,,xii1 #aj74 ,it is evident that with the ,romans as with us--the times are not entirely dissimilar2 indeed but for art critics1 the new modern fad1 they might be called identical--prices paid for works of art1 or simple curiosities1 became freakish and fabulous1 going up or down in a single period according to fickle fashion4 ,the momentary passion for murrhines1 for instance1 tempted a collector to pay for one of these cups of fluor-spar a sum approximating to #ad1bjj4 ,another mania succeeded1 that of tables made of citrus1 a species of rare wood1 possibly ,thuja1 grown on the slopes of ,mount ,athos4 ,cathegus invested in one of these fashionable tables a sum equivalent to twelve thousand pounds4 ,then at another time wrought silver becomes the rage1 and prices for this article soon reached absurd figures4 ,when ,chrysogon1 ,sulla's wealthy freedman1 was bidding at an auction for a silver autepsa 7a plate warmer71 people standing outside the auction room imagined he was buying a farm from the high sum he offered4 ,as might be expected1 high prices tempted brainless parvenus4 ,there were many in ,rome like that ,demasippus of whom ,horace said1 8,insanit veteres statuas ,demasippus emendo0 7,sat41 #c71 the type of a snobbish visionary and sham art-seeker who bought roughly carved statues1 supplying their defects with his fancy1 and who1 in speaking of his historical pieces1 stated that to be admitted into his very choicest collection a basin must at least have served ,sisyphus1 son of olus1 as a foot-bath6 ,next to this foolish type of collector of art ,rome possessed a great many other characters1 who1 like those of to-day1 might be classified as odd specimens of art lovers4 8,isn't ,euctus a bore with his historical silver80 asks ,martial1 adding that he would rather eat off the common earthenware of ,saguntus than hear all the gabble concerning ,euctus' table-silver4 8,think of it6 ,his cups belonged to ,laomedon1 king of ,troy4 ,and1 mind1 to obtain these rarities ,apollo played upon his lyre and destroyed the wall of the city by inducing the stones to follow him by his music40 ,but concerning this odd type of collector ,martial merits quotation4 8,now1 what do you think of this vase80 asks ,euctus of his table companions4 8,well1 it belonged to old ,nestor himself4 ,do you see that part all worn away1 there where the dove is8 ,it was reduced to that state by the hand of the king of ,pylos40 ,then showing one of those mixing bowls that ,latins called crater1 8,this was the cause of the battle between the ferocious ,rheucus and the ,lapith40 ,naturally every cup has its particular history4 8,this is the very cup used by the sons of ,eacus when offering most generous wine to their friend--,that is the cup from which ,dido drank to the health of ,bythias when she offered him that supper in ,phrygia40 ,finally1 when he has bored his guests to death1 ,euctus offers them1 in the cup from which ,pyramus used to drink1 8wine as young as ,astyanax40 ,trimalcho is so well known that we are dispensed from a detailed illustration4 ,petronius must have drawn from life this capital character of his ,satyricon4 ,like ,euctus1 ,trimalcho extols the historical merits of his articles of virtu2 he has the same mania for inviting people to his table and forcing them to admire his rarities4 ,he talks very much in the same manner as the type quoted by ,martial4 ,thus he informs his guests that his ,corinthian vases are the best and most genuine in existence1 because they were made at his order by a workman named ,corinth4 ,as a side explanation of this remark1 fearing that the guest might suppose he did not know the historical origin of the metal1 he adds3 8,yes1 yes1 ,i know all about it4 ,don't take me for an ignoramus4 ,i know the origin of this metal perfectly well4 ,it was at the capture of ,troy1 when ,hannibal1 a shrewd brigand by the way1 threw on to a burning pyre all the statues of gold and silver and bronze4 ,the mixture of the metals produced the alloy from which goldsmiths have made plates1 vases and figures4 ,from this1 of course1 comes the name of ,corinth to designate this mix-up of three metals1 which1 of course1 is no more any of the three60 ,trimalcho also possesses a cup with a bas-relief representing ,cassandra cutting her children's throats4 ,not content with this gorgeous historical blunder1 and forgetting that he is talking of the bas-relief of a cup1 ,trimalcho adds as an artistic comment that the bodies of ,cassandra's children are so life-like that one might suspect they had been cast from nature4 ,continuing our comparison with ,euctus we may add that ,trimalcho also possesses a rare pitcher with a bas-relief representing ,ddalus putting ,niobe inside the wooden horse of ,troy6 ,when he has finished maiming history1 and the guests have patiently listened to his fantastic tales1 like a true parvenu1 ,trimalcho never fails to add1 8,mind1 it is all massive precious metal1 it is all my very own as you see1 and not to be sold at any price40 ,except for the wording1 a trifling difference--the word 8expensive0 would play a conspicuous part with the ,trimalcho of to-day1 decorated1 be it understood1 with 8precious10 8rare10 8unique0 and all the rest of the arch-superlatives of modern idioms--such collectors have not been lost to our day4 ,but there are other types worth quoting4 ,they will certainly help us to understand the part played by art imitations and forgery among the ,romans1 and how the existence of fraud was in some way justified1 that in the end the one chiefly responsible for the existence of faking was the collector himself4 ,this understanding will be greatly aided by a glimpse at the sept1 antiquity or simple bric--brac shops1 that were grouped together in certain streets of ancient ,rome like they are nowadays4 ,like to-day1 too1 sales of art were effected by auctions or by private dealing1 the latter in shops or through the usual go-between1 the so-called courtier of our time4 ,public auctions were announced by placards or a simple writing on the walls4 ,an idea of what these announcements were like is given by the following one from ,plautus' ,menchme3 8,within seven days1 in the morning1 sale of ,menchme4 ,there will be sold slaves1 furniture1 houses1 farms4 ,every article bought must be paid for at the time of buying40 ,as in our days1 an exhibition of the goods preceded the auction4 ,these shows were held in appropriate rooms adorned with porticos1 called atria auctionaria4 ,in speaking of such exhibitions and commenting upon some special one1 ,cicero remarks1 ,auctionis vero miserabilis adspectus 7,phil41 ,,ii1 #bi74 ,curiously enough the auction sales of the ,urbs were provided with an employ whose function seems to have survived in the public sales of ,paris4 ,the ,latin prco is something like the ,french crieur whose office it is at public auctions to extol and praise the objects offered for sale4 ,it must be said that the prco1 however1 was not only a simple crieur but at times a sort of director of the sale1 thus combining the functions of commissaire priseur1 expert and crieur1 but it was certainly in the latter function that his ability best contributed to the success of the sale4 ,some of these employs must have enriched themselves like regular commissaires priseurs4 ,horace 7,i4 ,ep41 #g7 describes one of these crieurs as indulging in luxury1 making money easily and scattering it like water1 allowing himself every kind of pleasure and yielding tremendously to fashion4 ,a curious description1 suggesting that this ,vulteius ,menas of ,horace must have had the lucky career of some of the ,parisian auction employs and cannot have been indifferent to that form of gay self-indulgence that ,parisians call3 ,faire la bombe4 ,speaking of auctions and the way ,romans disposed of their goods to the highest bidder1 it is worth while to refer to what ,suetonius tells us happened at the sale held by ,caligula1 who being short of money thought fit one day to put up to auction everything in the royal palace that was either useless or considered out of fashion1 quidquid instrumenti veteris aul erat4 ,according to ,suetonius not only was the ,emperor himself present at the auction1 but he put prices on the various objects1 bidding on them as well4 ,an old prtor1 ,aponius ,saturninus1 became sleepy during the sale1 and in dozing kept on nodding his head4 ,caligula noticed it1 and told the auctioneer not to lose sight of that buyer and to put up the price each time ,saturninus nodded4 ,when the old man finally awoke he realized that without knowing it he had bought at the ,imperial auction about #hj1jjj worth of goods 7,cal41 #ci74 ,pliny relates an amusing story1 which shows that then1 as now1 the auctioneer was allowed to group objects4 8,at a sale10 he says1 8,theonius1 the crieur1 made a single lot of a fine bronze candelabra1 and a slave named ,clesippus1 humpbacked and extremely ugly4 ,the courtesan ,gegania bought the lot for #ej1jjj sesterces 7about #djj74 ,the same night at supper she showed her acquisitions1 exhibiting the naked slave to the gibes of the guests4 ,then yielding to a freakish passion1 made of him her lover and heir4 ,clesippus thus became extremely wealthy and worshipped the candelabra with a devotion as though it were his god0 7,,xxxiv1 #f74 ,as stated above1 other sales generally took place in various parts of ,rome where antiquaries and bric--brac dealers had assembled their shops4 ,a great many of these merchants had gathered in the ,via ,sacra or the ,septa of the ,villa ,publica1 or ,septa ,julia4 ,those parts of ,roman streets called ,sept1 where antiquaries and bric--brac dealers had their dens1 were the amateur's fool's paradise and trap1 and very likely they were as inviting and picturesque as similar places in modern ,european towns to-day4 ,these shops and shows1 it is said1 offered real rarities at times1 such as bronzes of gina by ,myron1 ,delos bronzes by ,polycletus1 genuine rarities in ,corinthian bronze1 marvels in chiselling signed by ,boethus or ,mys4 ,the sept not only exhibited artistic pieces but also sham rarities that had won public appreciation in a moment of fashion4 ,among these was a certain kind of candelabra shaped like a tree with one or more branches4 ,concerning these candelabras which were almost made to supplant the more artistic ones by a fad1 ,pliny remarks1 8,arborum mala ferentium modo lucentes0 7like trees bearing shining apples71 and states with caustic humour that although their name bore a common etymology with the word candela 7candle71 a cheap means of lighting1 they were sold at prices equivalent to the yearly appointment of a military tribune 7,plin41 ,,xxxiv1 #h74 ,speaking of candelabras1 it may be stated that the finest ever seen in ,rome belonged to ,verres1 being part of the vast plunder of ,sicily he accumulated when stationed there by ,rome as proconsul4 ,this fact prompted the sarcastic remark in ,cicero's indictment of the proconsul1 that ,verres had in his triclinium a candelabra casting light where darkness would have been more appropriate4 ,this rich candelabra must have been of a statuesque style1 the kind ,lucretius describes3-- ,si non aurea sunt juvenum simulacra per des ,lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris 7,,ii1 #bd74 7,figures of youths holding lighted lamps in their right hands47 ,naturally it was not only a single speciality1 valued through fashion or fad1 that was to be found on the market1 it was a regular emporium of antiquities in art1 and of all kinds of bric--brac4 ,besides murrhines1 tables of citrus and other specialities there were paintings of all schools and sizes1 down to miniatures1 an art not unknown to the ,romans4 ,there were also sculpture1 ceramics1 fine pieces of ,rhegium and ,cum1 ,maltese tapestries1 ,oriental embroideries1 etc4 ,in fact1 mixed with a good deal that was dubious1 these places also offered fine treasures1 as ,martial says3-- ,hic ubi ,roma suas aurea vexit opes4 7,here where golden ,rome brought her treasure47 ,it is easy to understand that the people moving in this milieu were not dissimilar from those who indulge in articles of virtu in our enlightened times1 or who are somewhat of a victim to the collector passion4 ,such a milieu1 not to be found in ,athens where the passion for art was genuine and essential1 was quite consistent in ,rome where improvised ,crsuses and rich parvenus abounded2 parvenus who1 like many of the collectors of our times1 took to buying objects of art as a fad or hobby4 ,this type of collector is easily recognized and in its grotesqueness is not essentially different from some of our modern society4 ,it is true that ,rome also produced many genuine lovers of art1 many first-rate connoisseurs and collectors such as ,agrippa1 magnificent collectors of the calibre of ,csar1 keen1 intelligent1 lovers of art1 as greedy as unscrupulous1 such as ,sulla1 ,verres and ,mark ,antony1 but as in ,america to-day1 the magnitude of quickly-made fortunes1 the impetus of a passion suddenly aroused without any previous preparation1 produced only a few types of the true collector4 ,as in ,america now1 for one ,quincy ,shaw1 how many a--,trimalcho and ,euctus4 ,needless to say1 the art market generally follows the inclination of the client1 it tries to meet his taste1 whims and fads1 it may be scrupulous or unscrupulous according to circumstances and1 particularly in art and antiques1 these circumstances chiefly depend upon the great despotic ruler of all markets1 the client4 ,thus in the sept1 side by side with ,firminius1 ,clodius and ,gratianus1 dealers enjoying an undisputed reputation in the sigillaria 7image market7 and other quarters where antiquary shops were gathered1 there were to be noted types like the ,milonius of whom ,martial says3-- 8,rare stuffs1 chiselled silver1 cloaks1 togas1 precious stones1 there is nothing you don't sell1 ,milo1 and your clients invariably carry their acquisitions away with them6 ,after all your wife is the best article in your emporium1 always bought and never taken away from your shop0 7,,vii-,,xii1 #ajb74 ,the whole gamut of oddities with which the collecting mania abounds were really to be found in the sept4 ,there was the particular collector who has no eyes but for one certain thing1 no enthusiasm but for the objects specializing his particular hobby1 as ,horace remarks in his 8,satires0 about people who have either the passion for silver pieces or bronzes3 ,hunc capit argenti splendor1 stupet ,albius are4 7,this one the glitter of silver holds1 ,albius stands dumb before bronze47 ,seneca informs us that in his time there was an amateur with the hobby of collecting rusty fragments1 another who had gone so crazy over small vases of ,corinthian bronze that he spent his days handling the pieces of his collection1 taking them down from the shelves1 putting them back again and continually arranging and rearranging them 7,de ,brev4 ,vit41 ,,xii74 ,martial tells us of a man who made a collection of pieces of amber containing fossilized insects1 and of another collector who boasted that he had a fragment of the ship ,argo among the rare pieces of his collection4 ,there was also ,clarinus1 a debauchee1 according to ,martial1 who vaunted himself upon possessing samples of all the goldsmith's art of his time4 8,but10 remarks ,martial1 8this man's silver cannot be pure60 ,another type noted by ,martial makes one realize that there is a species of collector that will never die4 ,of 8,paullus0 ,martial1 observes3 8444 his friends1 like his paintings and his antiques3 all for show0 7,,xii1 #fi74 ,codrus1 quoted by ,juvenal1 is the needy collector4 ,he keeps his books 8in an old basket where mice allow themselves the luxury of nibbling the works of divine ,greece40 ,he sleeps 8on a pallet shorter than his little wife40 ,his collection and furniture are all in his bedroom1 the only room he has for living and sleeping in1 and conspicuous are six cups1 a small cantarium on a console with a figure of ,chiron the ,centaur below it 7,,iii74 ,eros is another type1 that of the mournful collector4 ,this is the way ,martial describes this not unusual type3-- 8,eros weeps every time he comes across some fine murrhine of jasper or a finely marked table of citrus4 ,he sighs and sighs from the bottom of his heart1 for he is not rich enough to buy all the objects of the septa40 ,and here ,martial comments1 8,how many are like ,eros without showing it1 and how many banter him for his tears and sighs and yet in their hearts feel like him60 7,x1 #hj74 ,mamurra1 another type handed down to us by the inexhaustible ,martial1 never misses a day without visiting the septa4 8,spends hours in gadding about1 reviews the rows of young slaves which he devours with the eye of a critic1 not1 if you please1 the common ones but the choicest samples1 those that are not on show to every one1 not to common people like us10 adds ,martial4 8,when he has had enough of this show1 he goes to examine the furniture2 there he discovers some rich tables 7orbes1 round tables7 hidden under some covering2 then he orders that some pieces of ivory furniture he wishes to examine be taken down from the highest spot2 afterwards he passes on to examine a hexaclinon1 a couch used in the triclinium1 with six places1 veneered with tortoise-shell1 and measures it four times4 ,what a pity it is not big enough to match his citrus table6 ,a minute later he goes to smell a bronze3 ,does it really smell of the ,corinthian alloy8 ,of course he is ready to criticize even your statues1 ,o ,polycletus6 ,then those two rock crystals are not pure1 some are a trifle nebulous1 others are marred by slight imperfections4 ,ah6 here's a murrhine4 ,he orders about a dozen to be put aside4 ,he goes to handle some old cups as if he would weigh the merit of each one1 more especially that of ,mentor4 ,he goes to count the emeralds on a golden vase1 and the enormous pearls we see dangling together on the ears of our elegant ladies4 ,afterwards he goes to look everywhere on every side for real sardonyx2 his speciality is to collect large and rare pieces of jasper4 ,finally1 about the eleventh hour of the day1 ,mamurra is completely exhausted1 he must go home4 ,he buys for an as 7less than three farthings7 two bowls and takes them with him0 7,,ix1 #ei74 ,tongilius is the ponderous1 important collector4 ,he goes through the places where the antiques are sold in an over-sized palanquin and with his cortge and train of followers upsets everybody and everything4 ,juvenal1 by whom his character is handed down to us1 remarks rather sarcastically3 ,spondet enim ,tyrio stlataria purpura filo1 ,et tamen est illis hoc utile 7,sat4 ,,vii74 ,licinius is the type of the lunatic lover of art4 ,he has a fine collection1 is wealthy and can buy the most expensive objects of virtu1 but he is far from happy4 ,his mania is the fear that his rarities may be stolen or become the prey of fire4 ,he keeps hoards of slaves watching his precious curios1 night and day4 8,at night10 says ,juvenal1 8a cohort of guardians sits up with buckets of water ready to hand in case of emergencies2 the poor man is in continual fear for his statues1 his amber figures1 his ivory and tortoise-shell veneered furniture40 ,naturally1 in contrast to the foolish type of collector who seems to have kindled the verve of ,roman satirists1 the true amateur was to be found1 and most select collections of art were known in ,rome4 ,among these also the city afforded all the types of the true collector1 the selfish one who never showed his collection to anyone1 and the man who gathered objects of art chiefly to share the enjoyment of them with others4 ,some of these latter wished the public to have the benefit of their purchases1 and adorned porticoes and public places with their collections4 ,according to ,statius1 ,vindex is the real connoisseur4 8,who can compete with him10 remarks the poet in his ,silv1 lib4 ,,iv1 8who possesses so sober an eye8 ,he is deeply versed in the technical procedure of all the artists of antiquity1 and when a work bears no signature he can decide at sight to which master it belongs4 ,he will point you out a bronze that has cost the learned ,myron many a day's and night's work1 the marble to which ,praxiteles' untiring chisel has given life1 the ivory polished by the hand of ,phidias1 the bronzes of ,polycletus which seem to breathe life on coming out of the furnace1 he can see the artistic line1 the true mark of all authentic ,apelles40 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,rapacious ,,roman ,,collectors ,some collectors' hobbies--,sulla idolized statuette--,verres the most rapacious of ,roman art collectors--,mark ,antony and his speedy methods--,cicero as an art lover--,pompey the unselfish art lover--,julius ,csar4 ,shrewd and impassive connoisseurs like ,sulla also had their hobbies and fancies4 ,sulla's particular fancy was a little statue of ,apollo he had pillaged from the temple of ,delphi4 ,this statue was more to him than all the rest of the precious things forming his unique collection4 ,from this little god1 called by ,winckelmann 8,sulla's private travelling god10 he never separated4 ,he used to kiss it devoutly and seems to have consulted it in great emergencies4 ,at times he used to carry it in his breast1 says ,plutarch4 ,we may note by the way that this ,apollo was not considered by connoisseurs the best piece of ,sulla's collection1 the real gem was his ,hercules1 a work by ,lysippus4 ,the story of this ,hercules is told by ,martial and ,statius1 who inform us that it measured a little less than a ,roman foot1 about nine inches4 ,notwithstanding its modest dimensions the statuette was modelled with such grandeur and majestic sentiment as to cause ,statius to comment1 8parvusque videri1 sentirique ingens0 7small in appearance1 but immense in effect74 ,it represented ,hercules in a smilingly serene attitude1 seated on a rock1 holding a club in his right hand and in the other a cup4 ,it was in fact one of those statuettes which ,romans called by the ,greek word epitrapezios1 and which were placed on dining-tables as the genius loci of the repast4 ,the history of this gem of ,sulla's collection is uncommon1 and its vicissitudes most remarkable4 ,the statue was originally a gift made by ,lysippus to ,alexander the ,great4 ,this sovereign and conqueror was so attached to ,lysippus' present that he carried the statue with him wherever he went4 ,when dying he indulged in a touching adieu to the cherished statuette4 ,after ,alexander1 the little ,hercules fell into the hands of another conqueror1 ,hannibal4 ,it is not known how he came to be the possessor of ,lysippus' work1 but it may be explained by the fact that ,hannibal1 being a collector of art and somewhat of a connoisseur and1 above all1 as ,cornelius ,nepos states1 a great admirer of ,greek art1 was a keen-eyed hunter after rarities in art4 ,however1 be that as it may1 ,hannibal seems to have been possessed by the same fancy as ,alexander1 for he carried the little statue with him on all his peregrinations1 and even took it to ,bithynia1 where1 as history informs us1 he destroyed himself by poison4 ,at his death the ,hercules passed1 in all probability1 into the hands of ,prusias at whose court ,hannibal died4 ,a century later the statue reappeared in ,sulla's collection4 ,very likely it came into ,sulla's possession as a present from ,king ,nicomedes1 who owed gratitude to ,sulla for the restitution of the throne of ,bithynia4 ,after ,sulla's death it is difficult to locate this precious statue of his famous collection4 ,presumably it passed from one collector to another1 and never left ,rome4 8,perhaps10 says ,statius1 8it found its place in more than one ,imperial collection40 ,the statue reappears officially1 however1 under ,domitian4 ,at this time it is in the possession of the above-quoted ,vindex1 a ,gaul living in ,rome1 a friend of ,martial and ,statius and one of the best art connoisseurs of his time4 ,at ,vindex's death the statuette disappears again1 and no mention of it has ever been made since by any writer4 ,what may the fate have been of this chef-d'uvre of ,lysippus which passed from one collection to another for more than four centuries8 ,among greedy lovers of art1 with a connoisseur's eye as good as his soul was unscrupulous1 ,verres takes the prize4 ,he had learned the rapacious trade of art looting under ,sulla4 ,later on1 not being powerful enough nor daring to go to the length of the ,dictator by placing reluctant amateurs on the list of proscribed1 he studiously sought to gain his end by all forms of violence and vexatious methods4 ,when in ,sicily as proconsul1 he actually despoiled and denuded every temple in the island4 8,i defy you10 says ,cicero in his indictment of ,verres1 8to find now in ,sicily1 this rich province1 so old1 with opulent families and cities1 a single silver vase1 a bronze of ,corinth or ,delos1 one single precious stone or pearl1 a single work in gold or ivory1 a single bronze1 marble or ivory statue2 ,i defy you to find a single painting1 a tapestry1 that ,verres has not been after1 examined and1 if pleasing to him1 pillaged40 ,as for private property1 when he heard of a citizen possessing some object that excited his cupidity1 to ,verres all means of extortion seemed good1 including torture and fustigation4 ,his passion was of such an uncontrollable nature that even when invited to dinner by his friends he could not resist scraping with his knife the fine bas-reliefs of the silver plates and hiding them in the folds of his toga4 ,yet this greedy1 unscrupulous amateur1 whom ,cicero mercilessly indicted in his ,in ,verrem1 was such a lover of the objects of his collection that he faced death rather than give up some fine vases of ,corinthian bronze which ,mark ,antony had demanded from him as a forced gift4 ,mark ,antony1 who followed ,sulla's methods in forming one of the finest of collections1 was1 like his violent predecessors1 a type of collector which finds no counterpart in our times4 ,his fine library had cost many victims1 his taste being rather eclectic1 there seems to have been no security in ,rome for any kind of amateur who happened to possess rare and interesting curios4 ,nonius was proscribed because he refused to part with a rare opal1 a precious stone of the size of a hazelnut4 8,what an obstinate man1 that ,nonius10 remarks ,pliny 7,,xxxvii1 #ba7 most candidly1 8to be so attached to an object for which he was proscribed6 ,animals are certainly wiser when they abandon to the hunter that part of their body for which they are being chased40 ,mark ,antony was not so good a connoisseur as ,verres1 but having no less a passion for collecting art and being no less unscrupulous and more in a position to use violence without the risk of being accused before the ,roman citizens1 as happened to ,verres in the end1 there was no limit to his schemes4 ,after the battle of ,pharsalia he managed to seize all ,pompey's artistic property1 as well as his furniture and gardens1 and after ,csar's murder ,antony1 to whom we owe one of the finest orations ever conceived1 the one he delivered before the dead body of his friend1 lost no time in plundering ,csar's property and transporting to his gardens all the objects of art ,csar had left to the people of ,rome4 ,the information comes from ,cicero with these words3 8,the statues and pictures which with his gardens ,csar bequeathed to the people1 he 7,antony7 carried off partly to his garden at ,pompeii1 partly to his country-house40 ,speaking of this collection1 it is believed that the colossal ,jupiter now in the ,louvre ,museum not only belonged to ,mark ,antony1 but was the work of ,myron which the ,triumvir had stolen from ,samos4 ,should this be so1 the pedigree of this statue is one of the few that can be actually traced through the centuries4 ,brought to ,rome by ,mark ,antony1 this ,jupiter was later placed in the ,capitol by ,augustus4 ,the fine statue was then passed from one emperor to another1 to sink into the general oblivion of art at the end of the ,roman ,empire4 ,it reappears in ,rome in the sixteenth century4 ,it was then in the possession of ,marguerite of ,antioch1 ,duchess of ,camerino4 ,the statue was greatly mutilated1 having lost both legs and arms4 ,the ,duchess presented what remained of this famous ,jupiter to ,perronet de ,granvelle4 ,subsequently cardinal and minister of ,charles ,v1 on his retirement to his native country1 ,perronet de ,granvelle took the ,jupiter to ,besanon and placed it in the garden of his castle4 ,when ,louis ,,xiv took ,besanon1 the magistrates of the city offered the ,french monarch what he might otherwise have taken1 the statue of ,jupiter4 ,transferred from ,besanon to ,versailles1 this magnificent statue which by rare chance had escaped serious damage during the barbarian ages finally met two authentic barbarians in the artists charged with its restoration4 ,to clean off the old patina from the statue--think of it--,girardon had a layer of marble taken off with the chisel1 and ,drouilly1 not perceiving that the god had been formerly in a sitting posture1 or more probably not choosing to notice the fact as not appealing to his artistic conception1 made the ,jupiter a standing statue by adjusting and cutting the parts otherwise in the way for this kind of adaptation4 ,the only part of the statue that does not seem to have suffered any damage is the head4 ,even ,brutus and ,cassius appear not to have been indifferent to the collector passion4 ,brutus1 more especially1 used to devote to the collecting of art the less agitated moments of his troubled life4 ,the gem of his collection was considered to be a bronze by ,strongylion4 ,pliny tells us that this statue of ,brutus was called 8the young ,philippian10 ,strongylion fecit puerum1 quem amando ,brutus ,philippiensis cognomine suo illustravit 7,,xxxiv1 #ai74 ,cicero may be quoted as a type of the inconsistent art collector4 ,a man of dubious artistic taste and snobbish tendencies but who becomes a true art lover when he specializes in that part of art collecting more closely in keeping with his studies4 ,thus in his letter to ,atticus he reveals his love of books and old ,greek works1 and how fond he was of good bindings1 etc4 ,as a collector of art ,cicero leaves one doubtful as to his taste and connoisseurship1 qualities to which he seems to lay claim in more than one of his speeches4 ,when he writes to his friend ,atticus1 his good counsellor1 the man charged to buy art for him1 he does not express himself either as a real lover of art or a genuine connoisseur4 8,buy me anything that is suited for the decoration of my ,tusculum10 he writes to ,atticus4 8,hermathena might be an excellent ornament for my ,academy1 ,hermes are placed now in all ,gymnasia4444 ,i have built exedras according to the latest fashion4 ,i should like to put paintings there as an ornament10 etc4 ,in ,paradoxa1 a collection of philosophical thoughts called ,socratic in style by ,cicero1 in which he says he has called a spade a spade1 ,socratica longeque verissima1 ,cicero has the courage to write the following paragraph in defence of ,carneades1 who maintained that a head of a ,faun had been found in the raw marble of a quarry at ,chios3-- 8,one calls the thing imaginary1 a freak of chance1 just as if marble could not contain the forms of all kinds of heads1 even those of ,praxiteles4 ,it is a fact that these heads are made by taking away the superfluous marble1 and in modelling them even a ,praxiteles does not add anything of his own1 because when much marble has been taken away one reaches the real form1 and we see the accomplished work which was there before4 ,this is what may have happened in the quarry of ,chios40 ,the gamut of art collectors would not be complete without quoting a few samples of worthy art lovers who either understood art1 like the ,greeks1 as a means of public enjoyment1 or in some way showed genuine and most praiseworthy qualities as true collectors of art4 ,it is doubtful whether the great ,pompey really felt any pleasure in collecting art pieces1 or whether he simply did it to ingratiate himself with the public4 ,but as a matter of fact his attitude towards the enjoyment of art was certainly of a most unselfish character4 ,though he very sumptuously embellished his gardens on the ,janiculum1 this was nothing compared with the public buildings he enriched with rare statues1 paintings1 etc4 ,his theatre was a magnificent emporium of art of which we possess some samples in the colossal ,melpomene of the ,louvre ,museum and the bronze ,hercules excavated under ,pius ,,ix1 now one of the finest pieces of the ,vatican collection4 ,both these statues were found buried on the spot where once the monumental theatre of ,pompey had stood4 ,but the artistic glories of this theatre were perhaps even surpassed by the interminable portico ,pompey constructed and adorned for the benefit of the public4 ,this spot1 which was called the ,promenade of ,pompeius1 became one of the fashionable walks of ,rome4 8,you disdain10 asks ,propertius of his lady love1 8the shady colonnades of ,pompey's portico1 its magnificent tapestries and the fine avenue of leafy plane-trees80 7,,iv1 #h74 ,and in another place ,cynthia forbids her paramour this promenade with the words3 8,i prohibit you ever to strut in your best fineries in that promenade40 ,pliny 7,,xxxv1 #i71 says that ,pompey had some famous paintings in his galleries and seems to have been more especially struck by a work by ,polygnotus1 representing 8a man on a ladder10 and a landscape by ,pausias4 ,curiously enough the characteristics that seem to have attracted ,pliny in the two works do not point to the noted writer as a great art critic4 ,he says that the remarkable side of ,polygnotus' painting was that the beholder could not tell whether the man on the ladder was ascending or descending1 and that the main characteristic of ,pausias' work consisted in two black oxen outlined on a dark landscape4 ,csar1 who showed himself to be a better connoisseur than his rival ,pompey1 and who1 being of a more refined nature1 would not1 as did ,pompey1 have indulged in the gratification of parading the chlamys of ,alexander the ,great in a triumphal car drawn by four elephants1 spent considerable sums on the embellishment of ,rome with art4 ,he also1 like many collectors of art1 had his hobbies1 carrying with him through his various campaigns an endless number of precious mosaic tables1 and always keeping in his tent a fine work of a ,greek artist1 a statue of ,venus1 with whom he claimed relationship4 ,though he showed eclectic taste in his gifts to the town and temples1 he was in private1 like a true connoisseur and refined lover of art1 somewhat of a specialist1 being extremely fond of cameos and cut stones4 ,of these he had six distinct collections that held the admiration of all the connoisseurs of the city4 ,he was1 however1 not only a passionate seeker after antiques1 most boldly acquiring precious stones1 curiosities1 statues1 pictures by old masters 7gemmas1 tereumata1 signa1 tabulas operis antiqui animosissime comparasse71 as ,suetonius tells us1 but also the ever-ready patron of modern art4 ,in this character he paid #hj talents 7about #af1jjj7 for a painting by ,timonacus4 ,damophilus and ,gorgas1 painters1 sculptors and decorators1 worked for him to embellish the ,arena he built in ,rome1 an edifice capable of holding #bejj spectators4 ,many artists worked at his ,forum1 a monument to his name for which he paid a sum equivalent to twenty million liras for the ground alone4 ,meanwhile he was also busy embellishing other cities of ,italy1 ,gaul1 ,spain1 ,greece1 and even ,asia4 ,suetonius states that ,csar sent a company of artists and workers to rebuild destroyed ,corinth and to replace its statues on their pedestals4 ,being a most unselfish kind of lover of art1 ,csar was one of the few who did not yield to the momentary fashion that led patricians to send their art pieces out of ,rome1 to embellish and decorate their country houses and magnificent villas4 ,this peculiar fashion that exiled so many fine statues from ,rome1 leads us to speak of another noble type of collector1 ,marcus ,agrippa1 who1 like ,csar1 not only set a good example by keeping all his treasures of art in ,rome1 mostly for the enjoyment of the public1 but protested against the new custom1 and held meetings and lectures to dissuade wealthy ,romans from sending away from the city their chef-d'uvres4 ,such was the spirit characterizing ,agrippa as a lover of art4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,rome ,,as ,,an ,,art ,,emporium ,rome an art emporium--,every rich man is more or less a collector-- ,chrysogon1 ,sulla's freedman1 competes with patricians--,scaurus' extravagant display--,the type of a crack collector as described by ,petronius ,arbiter--,the ,roman palaces have special rooms for art gatherings--,the ,pinacotheca1 the ,library1 the ,exhedra1 etc41 according to the rules of ,vitruvius--,fashion creates new distinctions in the appreciation of art and curios--,the craze for ,corinthian bronze and the classification of bronze 8patine0 --,the hobby of murrhines and citrus tables4 ,we do not know how many private collections there were in ,rome when the collectomania finally took the city by storm4 ,a list of ,roman collectors in the fashion of the modern work 7,ritz-,pacot7 would be most interesting and enlightening4 ,however1 judging from the statues and the public buildings we know to have been replete with objects of art1 we gather that as an emporium of art ,rome must have attained a magnitude unequalled in past or present times4 ,why this great collection of art did not transform the ,romans into the most artistic people the world has ever seen1 is a mystery only to be solved by hypothesis4 ,either the ,romans were innately refractory to the refinements of true art1 or1 like to all nouveaux riches1 the field of art merely afforded room for faddists1 hobbyists and fashion seekers1 and1 only as sporadic cases1 a few real lovers of good art4 ,however this may be1 without discussing the causes1 the effect was certainly gigantic3 art from every land found its way to ,rome1 which by force of circumstances thus became a monumental synthesis of art4 ,even at the time of ,constantine1 ,rome counted #aj basilicas1 #aa forums1 #aa thermes1 #ah aqueducts1 #h bridges1 #cg city gates1 #bi military roads leading to all parts of the known world1 #b arenas1 #h theatres1 #b circuses1 #cg triumphal arches1 #e obelisks1 #b colossal statues1 #bb equestrian statues1 #dbc temples with statues of the gods--eighty of these being in solid gold and seventy-seven in ivory4 ,it is easy to understand that the above statistics only give a faint idea of the magnificence of ,rome1 for the #dbc streets and #agij private palaces noted in the same statistics as existing in ,rome at the time of ,constantine were in a measure respectively open-air museums and repositories of private collections of art1 as no patrician mansion1 according to ,vitruvius1 was complete without a place where paintings and objects of art could be exhibited with advantage4 ,cicero allows us a peep at the collections and gorgeous palaces owned by notable ,romans as well as their style of living4 ,in his oratio 7,pro ,roscio ,amerino7 he speaks of ,chrysogon in these words3 8,look at ,chrysogon when he comes down from his fine mansion on the ,palatine6 ,he owns a charming villa1 where he goes to rest1 just at the gates of ,rome4 ,he also owns extensive domains1 all magnificent and all near the city4 ,his palace overflows with vases of ,delos and ,corinthian bronze4 ,he keeps there the famous authepsa bought by him some time ago at such a price that on hearing the auctioneer's voice repeat the bid1 the passers-by imagined a farm was being offered for sale4 ,what shall we say of his chiselled silver8 his precious stuffs8 his paintings8 statues8 marbles8 ,how many of such things do you think he owns8 ,just imagine what has been pillaged from so many opulent families in times of trouble and rapine2 and all for the repletion of one single palace40 ,when one thinks that this ,chrysogon1 ,sulla's freedman1 had the chance to amass such an accumulation of art1 it is not difficult to imagine the artistic wealth that must have been acquired by ,scaurus1 the terrible ,sulla's unscrupulous son-in-law1 the embezzler1 the deplored and deplorable ,roman dile whom ,cicero defended before the tribunal with the inconsistency of his easy eloquence4 ,according to ,pliny 7,,xxxvi71 ,scaurus not only owned one of the most magnificent palaces on the ,palatine1 but had his mansion crowded with rare things in true ,roman fashion4 ,with a ,sulla for father-in-law1 a ,metella1 the purchaser of proscribed citizens' goods1 for mother1 a ,scaurus1 the magna pars of the ,senate and ,marius' former friend and helper in the spoliation of provinces1 for father1 he can have had no difficulty1 as ,pliny informs us1 in gathering the unequalled treasures that were stored in his palace4 ,the wonders of the treasures of his art emporium are all the more easily explained1 too1 when we consider that he not only inherited a large fortune1 but more than doubled it by speculations4 ,to give some idea of his fatuous munificence1 we may state that this ,roman multi-millionaire built1 for one month's performance1 a theatre in the city1 to hold eighty thousand spectators1 and adorned the edifice with three thousand statues and three hundred and sixty columns4 ,among the precious things of ,scaurus' collection were a great number of paintings by ,pausias1 works intended by the artist for his native town of ,sycione1 if the ,romans had had milder methods of collecting art4 ,even those ,romans1 and they were many1 who were not considered collectors in the proper sense1 owned fine works of art4 ,the ,servilius1 who had large gardens on the ,palatine near the present ,porta ,san ,paolo1 had what a modern connoisseur might call a few extra pieces4 ,there was a ,triptolemus1 a ,flora and a ,ceres by ,praxiteles1 a fine ,vesta with two ,vestals by ,scopas and an ,apollo by ,calamis4 ,it may be mentioned1 by the way1 that it was to this famous garden ,nero retired on the day preceding his death1 it was here in the ,servilian mansion that he was abandoned by his servants1 parasites and courtiers1 here that he wandered desolate and despondent before resorting to flight4 ,on the spot formerly occupied by the ,servilian gardens a mosaic was discovered1 now in ,san ,giovanni in ,laterano1 representing an unswept floor with the remains of a luxurious dinner4 ,one might fancy this mosaic to have belonged to one of those ,roman ,triclinia and their noted orgies1 or1 having the imagination of ,ampere1 the historian1 to the place where ,servilia had supped with her lover1 ,julius ,csar4 ,history tells us that this matron1 the mother of ,brutus1 was of the pure blood--one might use the modern expression1 blue blood--of the gens ,servilia4 ,for the sake of the colour1 we cannot refrain from giving the description of a true collector of art as related in all its suggestive reality in the ,satyricon1 the only known fiction of ,roman times1 a work which1 though fiction1 seems close to nature and a most faithful interpretation of the artistic merits and oddities of ,roman life4 8,i entered the ,pinacotheca1 where marvels of all kinds were gathered4 ,there were works by ,zeuxis which seemed to have triumphed over all the affronts of age1 sketches by ,prothogenes that appeared to dispute merits with nature herself1 works that ,i did not dare to touch but with a sort of religious fear4 ,there were some monochromes by ,apelles which moved me to holy reverence4 ,what delicacy of touch and what precision of drawing in the figures6 ,ah6 the painter of the very soul of things4 ,here on the wings of an eagle a god raising himself higher than the air2 there innocent ,hylas repulsing a lascivious ,naiad2 further on ,apollo cursing his murderous hand44440 ,at a certain moment the owner of the collection1 apparently1 arrives4 ,he is of a type not yet extinct3 the man who lives for his collection1 the man so engrossed in his cherished objects as to forget and neglect other pleasures in life1 social obligations1 etc4 8,a white-haired old man arrived10 the author of the ,satyricon goes on to relate1 8his tormented expression seemed to herald grandeur4 ,his garments were of that neglected character which is often distinctive of literary people who have not been spoilt by wealth4444 8,i thought of questioning him4 ,he was more of a connoisseur than myself in the epochs of the paintings and their subjects2 some of the latter incomprehensible to me4 #8,what is the reason1' ,i asked him while we were speaking of painting1 #8for the weakening1 the great decadence of the fine arts nowadays2 more especially of painting which seems to have disappeared and to have left no trace of past glory8' ,he answered1 #8,the passion for money1 that is the cause of the great change4 ,years ago when merit1 though left to starve1 was glorified and appreciated1 art flourished4444 ,then1 only to mention sculpture1 ,lysippus was perishing of hunger at the feet of the very statue he was intent upon perfecting2 ,myron1 that marvellous artist who could cast in bronze the life of men and animals1 ,myron was so poor that at his death no one was to be found to accept his inheritance4 ,we of our time1 given over to orgies1 wine and women1 have no energy left to study the fine art pieces under our very eyes4 ,we prefer to abuse and slander antiquity4 ,only vice nowadays finds great masters and pupils6444 ,do you believe that in our day any go to the temple to pray for the health of their body8 ,before all else1 even before reaching the threshold of the temple1 the one will promise an offering to the gods if his rich relation dies and makes him his heir1 the other1 if he discovers a treasure1 and another if he shall achieve the dispersal of his third million in health and safety4444 ,and are you surprised that painting languishes1 when in the eyes of every man an ingot of gold is a masterpiece that cannot be equalled by anything that ,apelles1 ,phidias and all the crack-brained ,greeks have been able to produce4'0 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,marcus ,,aurelius4 ,a ,x,v,ith ,century copy by ,l4 ,del ,duca of the equestrian statue in ,rome 7,campidoglio74 ,with the growth of fashion1 a collection of art became the necessary complement of a wealthy mansion4 ,the need then arose to give this collection the noblest place in the palace1 a room apart to enhance its importance4 ,this new view brought about a new architectural distribution of the ,roman patrician mansion1 not only on account of the family life and obligations of a wealthy class of citizens1 but because the well-to-do ,roman had obligations towards art and antiquity4 ,in the ,roman mansion we thus find first the atrium1 a large hall open to friends1 clients and visitors at large4 ,the peristyle is the second courtyard1 and is reserved for the family4 ,in the atrium the domestic gods were generally placed and records concerning the family1 including genealogical trees 7stemmata74 ,with time these atria became regular museums1 as they were excellent places for decoration and the display of art1 being the open central part of the house girded by a colonnade4 ,an idea of the importance of these atria may be gathered from that of ,scaurus' palace1 which had thirty-eight columns #ab yards high1 made of the same kinds of rare marble that faced the walls--,egyptian green1 old yellow or ,oriental alabaster1 ,african marble and other rare kinds brought from ,syria and ,numidia4 ,scaurus' atrium appears to have been hung round with tapestries1 embroidered with gold1 illustrating mythological scenes4 ,alternating with these rare tapestries were panopli and family portraits4 ,though perhaps the favourite spot1 the atrium was not the only place for the artistic display of the ,romans4 ,their palaces also contained ,oeci1 magnificent galleries used for receptions1 and the ,exhedr1 which were rooms for conversation1 generally of a more sober decoration4 ,in the ,triclinia there were kept works in precious metals and the finest pieces of furniture4 ,there was also the ,sacrarium1 a private shrine where precious pieces of art were often hidden4 ,verres found his famous canephoros 7basket-bearers7 by ,polycletus1 the ,cupid of ,praxiteles and the ,hercules of ,myron in the sacrarium of ,heius of ,messina4 ,there was also a room in ,roman mansions set apart for the library1 and some had special nooks for such collections as gems and cameos4 ,the place where the best paintings were shown was called the ,pinacotheca1 and was always built towards the north so that the light from the windows should be without much variation1 and above all because a northern exposure left no chance for the sun's rays to enter and spoil the effect of the painting4 ,the ,roman collector of books very often went in for elegant bindings and all the showy and decorative side of a library4 ,seneca deplores the fact that while every elegant house in ,rome contained a library1 many of these collections of books were simply for show4 ,too many collectors1 not dissimilar in this from our bibliomaniacs of to-day1 had quantities of works they did not care to read4 8,what is the use of having so many thousand volumes10 cries ,seneca1 8the lifetime of their owners would hardly suffice to read the titles of the works4444 ,there is a man with scarcely the literary knowledge of a serf1 and he is buying volumes1 not to read them1 but as an ornament for his dining-room6 ,there is another who is proud of his library only because it is in cedar and ivory2 he has the mania of buying books that no one looks for4 ,he is always gaping among his volumes1 which he has bought solely for their titles4 ,lazy people1 who never read1 are likely to be found with complete collections of the works of orators or historians1 books upon books4 ,one could really forgive this mania if it had originated in a real passion for reading1 but all these fine works1 the great creations of divine genius1 works ornamented with the portraits of their authors1 do but serve to decorate the walls0 7,tranq41 ,,ix74 ,a large library was the desire of ,horace4 ,he wrote to ,lellius3 8,do you know my daily prayer8--,great ,gods6 let me keep the little ,i own1 less if it is your pleasure2 let me live according to my choice the days your indulgence has granted me2 let me have plenty of books1 one year's income in advance that ,i may not be obliged to live day by day from hand to mouth4444 ,as regards the peace of my heart and my happiness1 that is my affair0 7,sat41 ,,ii1 #f74 ,such contrarieties have a genuine echo in our society where the bibliomaniac is rarely a literary man or even slightly interested in literature4 ,bibliomaniacs collected volumes for the most part either because some of them were considered rare1 and therefore advertised the high price paid for them1 or because they might serve as a decorative show1 but the collecting of general art and curios1 with a few exceptions1 appears to have been vacuous and freakish4 ,even specialization1 which is held to be progress in modern times1 but as a matter of fact more often merely represents the triumph of erudition over art and taste1 exercised in ,rome the momentary tyranny of fashion4 ,an example of this specialization is given us by the craze in ,rome for ,corinthian bronze4 ,without entering into a discussion about the legend of its origin1 and simply hinting that there are strong proofs that the alloy existed long before the siege of ,corinth1 we are safe in saying that the craze in ,rome for ,corinthian bronze was one of those freaks of fashion that has had1 perhaps1 no echo in all the after-history of 8collectomania40 ,every amateur was at that time bound to have at least one vase of the coveted metal4 ,according to ,pliny 7,,xxxiv1 #a1 #b1 #c7 in his time this metal was equal to gold in value4 ,in order to obtain two vases of this precious metal ,mark ,antony ordered the assassination of the owner1 and it must be borne in mind that ,mark ,antony was accused of using golden vessels for the lowest services of his household4 ,octavianus1 supposed to be a collector of mild passions and a man who certainly did give up all such hobbies on becoming emperor1 was also very fond of the fashionable metal--corinthiorum prcupidus--and did not scruple to adopt the methods of ,sulla and ,mark ,antony to gratify his ultra-fashionable taste4 ,times were then ripe for all forms of degeneration4 ,connoisseurs1 like those of to-day1 began to discuss patina4 ,as it required years for ,corinthian bronze to assume the proper patina--,nobilis rugo1 ,horace calls it--it was natural that this alloy should have the preference over all other kinds of bronze4 ,but there were gradations of colour even in this metal and value was discriminated according to the quality of the patina4 ,of these patin the ,roman collector recognized five different kinds4 ,apart from these varying degrees of merit1 the connoisseur1 ,pliny tells us1 could tell the quality of the alloy from its weight and determine the excellency of the patina by its smell4 ,another craze in ,rome that greatly fostered imitation and forgery was that of murrhines1 cups of a mysterious material which was more valued than any other rare stone or rock crystal1 though a cup of the latter1 according to ,pliny 7,,xxxvii71 easily fetched #aej1jjj sesterces1 an amount equivalent to #abjj4 ,as a rule1 always according to ,pliny1 for one of these cups a bigger price was paid than for a slave4 ,if the ,romans1 unlike the ,americans1 had no detectives at festivals and banquets1 they certainly took precautions to guarantee the safety of the treasures displayed and to guard against the possible greed of some guest4 8,whereas ,virro drinks from pateras of beryl10 remarks ,juvenal1 speaking to a parasite1 8no one would trust you with even a simple golden cup1 or1 if perchance they do let you use one1 be sure a guardian near you has previously counted the precious stones studding it and follows with his eye the movements of your fingers and your sharp nails40 ,one can really not refrain from giving this gorgeous patch of ,roman colour as ,juvenal himself puts it3-- 444 ,ipse capaces ,heliadum crustas et inquales beryllo ,virro tenet phialas3 tibi non committitur aurum2 ,vel1 si quando datur1 custos affixus ibidem1 ,qui numeret gemmas unguesque observet acutos 7,v4 #ch74 ,one may be sure that the man charged with watching was likely to do his duty with the utmost solicitude4 ,carelessness in handling these precious pieces that were used to decorate ,roman tables was not easily overlooked4 ,an anecdote will illustrate this4 ,vedius ,pollio1 a ,roman nobleman1 possessed one of the most esteemed collections of these crystals4 ,one day when ,augustus was dining at this favourite's house1 a slave broke one of the precious crystal cups4 ,vedius immediately ordered the slave to be thrown alive into the pond of lampreys4 ,disgusted at such an order1 ,augustus not only made a freedman of the slave but ordered that ,vedius' whole collection of crystals should be broken before his eyes and thrown into the pond of lampreys4 ,but as we have said above1 the craze for murrhines surpassed the craze for the precious crystal1 though comparing the two1 we are bound to add1 with no artistic justification4 ,what these murrhines were made of is not exactly known4 ,some of the scholars of our day believe they were artificial1 a mixture of clay with myrrh1 hence1 perhaps1 the name4 ,winkelmann is inclined to think they were made of a kind of agate1 and ,mariette and de ,caylus respectively believe them to have been mother-of-pearl1 or fluor-spar1 or porcelain4 ,in further illustration of the peculiar substance of the murrhines we quote from ,pliny3 8,the material of the murrhines is in blocks no larger than an ordinary glass1 and a stratum no thicker than the marble of a small console4 ,there is no real splendour in this material1 but instead of splendour what one might call brilliancy4 ,what gives the murrhines their price is the variety of their tints1 the colour of the veining1 either purple or pure white1 sometimes shading off into nuances1 reaching in some species the hue of blazing purple4 ,the white samples shade into roseate or milky tones4 ,some amateurs are fond of freakish accidentalities or reflex iridescent changes like the rainbow1 others prefer opaque effects4 ,transparency and pale hues are considered defects1 as also opaque grains inside even if they do not alter the surface1 like tumours1 spreading in the human body4 ,the quality of the odour helps to set the price on the stuff0 7,,xxxvii1 #h74 ,it is to be noted that while this rather vague description of ,pliny's would seem on the one hand to point to the agate or any fluor-spar1 the addition of the odour tends to destroy this hypothesis4 ,in any case murrhines became the rage of the ,roman collector1 and the fashion being1 as usual1 imperative1 no one was considered elegant or correct who did not own at least one sample of the precious cups4 ,one of these cups which1 according to ,pliny's estimate1 could not contain more than a measure of liquid1 less than half a gallon1 had cost the large sum of #gj talents 7#ae1djj74 ,adding that the cup had belonged to a consul1 and that the edge of it was nibbled1 ,pliny remarks that 8such damage is the reason of the increased price1 there is not in all ,rome a murrhine which can boast of a more illustrious origin0 7,,xxxvii1 #g74 ,this consul1 who loved his cup so much as to nibble it on putting it to his lips1 this collector1 whose name is unknown to us1 used up all his patrimony on his hobby of collecting murrhines4 ,he possessed so many of them1 ,pliny adds1 that 8one might have filled with them the private theatre that ,nero had constructed in his gardens on the other bank of the ,tiber40 ,perhaps one of the most esteemed murrhines was that which was considered the gem of ,petronius' collection4 ,he had paid #cjj talents 7#ff1jjj7 for it4 ,knowing how much ,nero coveted this precious cup and wishing to baffle his plans1 before destroying himself ,petronius ordered his slaves to break it to pieces1 so that it should not fall into the hands of the man he detested4 ,a rival craze in ,rome to that of murrhines was the passion for tables of citrus4 ,here too there is uncertainty as to the nature of this rare wood called citrus4 ,apparently it grew at the foot of ,mount ,atlas in ,africa1 and was in all probability a thuja4 ,to obtain the proper grain it was felled at the root and cut into planks of a length to furnish the board of the table4 ,pliny seems to think that ,cicero--the snob collector--set the example of extravagance in these tables4 ,the one he bought at the fancy price of #djjj ,english sovereigns was still in existence in ,pliny's time and went under the name of the ,ciceroniana4 ,cicero's price1 however1 was surpassed by ,asinius ,gallus and ,cethegus1 the former paying #a1ajj1jjj sesterces for his citrus table and the latter #a1djj1jjj sesterces4 ,yet according to ,cicero1 the citrus table that ,verres had placed in his triclinium was the finest and most valuable ,rome had ever seen4 ,needless to add that in this article1 too1 collectors had their preferences1 that there was citrus and citrus1 that the precious tables were valued according to the grain of the wood and the patina4 ,there were four qualities among the most appreciated4 ,the tigrines1 the pantherines and the pavonines were those tables of which the grain and knots of the wood resembled the coats of the two animals in the case of the two first1 whereas the wood of the last showed knots like the eyes of a peacock's tail4 ,the fourth quality was called apiates1 for in these tables the wood looked like a mass of dark seeds1 or more accurately a swarm of bees--hence the name4 ,the collectomania and thirst for display must have not only favoured the trade in spurious pieces of cheap imitation but1 have caused in the chaos of tastes at times an equal confusion in general reasoning4 ,thus wise men and philosophers appear to have indulged in--what shall we say8--rather amateurish considerations1 indicating the reasoning powers of a dilettante4 ,cicero at one time gibes at collectors and at another boasts of being a collector himself4 ,seneca1 the wise ,seneca1 the cool-headed philosopher1 was no better4 ,forgetting that his triclinium was adorned with five hundred fine1 tripod-like tables with ivory feet1 he writes as a comment3 8,i like a simple table with nothing remarkable about its grain1 one that is not celebrated in the city for having belonged to a succession of lovers of fashion40 ,and then 8444 material considerations to which a pure soul mindful of its origin should give no weight40 ,at one time fashion demanded that citrus should be used in veneering1 an art in which the ,romans were extremely skilful1 using all kinds of rare woods1 ivory and tortoise-shell4 ,furniture veneered with tortoise-shell1 especially1 fetched an extremely high price and was in considerable vogue for a time4 ,the fact was sufficient to prompt ,seneca to this odd comment3 8,is it possible that people are so ready to pay most extravagant prices for the shell of such an unclean and lazy animal60 ,the prices paid for art were only too often created by fashion1 as shown by the artistic milieu of ,rome we have been trying to outline1 and yet the characters we have passed in review in our reconstruction of the past do not seem altogether dissimilar from some of our present-day lovers of art4 ,,chapter ,v ,,increase ,,of ,,faking ,,in ,,rome ,increase of ,faking--,imitation precious stones--,cameos--,restorers and copyists4 ,it is evident that in a society like that of ,rome and an artistic milieu such as we have tried to depict1 comprising a few good collectors among a whole hoard of fools setting up as full-fledged connoisseurs1 deception and fakery must have been rampant4 ,the large profits promised by a trade in sham art must have helped to perfect those enslaved ,greeks in methods of taking an artistic revenge upon their oppressors4 ,romans1 especially in art matters1 must have seemed to them mere parvenus4 ,the practised eclectic qualities and adaptability of those grculi delirantes 7crazy paltry ,greeks71 so active in ,rome1 must have helped matters4 ,in time there was nothing they could not produce for the benefit of their patrons1 and often to such perfection as to deceive even keen-eyed connoisseurs4 ,as a consequence1 already in ,rome the imitation of art and curios produced a certain perplexed feeling even among people who claimed to be acquainted with the business of buying art and antiques4 ,pliny1 who was somewhat of a connoisseur1 more especially in bronzes1 writes to a friend that he has bought a charming statuette of ,corinthian bronze1 and in confessing that he likes it1 8no matter whether modern or antique10 seems to reveal the cautious attitude of a man who does not wish to be caught in error1 a fear and uncertainty that very able forgers had created in ,rome4 ,beyond a few hints and gibes about certain collectors and art lovers and a few comments of ,pliny and others we have no detailed account of the part that imitation and faking played in ,rome1 but it is to be presumed that the latter especially found numerous and ever-ready clients1 and that it was able and prosperous beyond the dreams of modern art duping4 ,according to ,pliny the favourite article1 the one to which fakers and forgers gave their utmost care and attention1 was the article that was in vogue at the moment and therefore promised the biggest return4 ,thus murrhines did not escape this fate1 they were imitated with obsidian4 ,pliny also adds that all kinds of precious stones were imitated in ,rome1 not only by coloured glass but also by a selection of stones that1 though rare1 were of less value comparatively than the types they imitated4 ,the most esteemed kinds of sardonyx were counterfeited by joining various pieces of the cheaper jaspers or onyx1 cleverly alternating red1 white and black1 and joining the pieces in such a manner that it was most difficult1 ,pliny tells us1 for a connoisseur to detect a fraud4 ,the same writer1 who gives valuable hints on the imitation of precious stones1 says that in his time there were even books from which one could learn the art of counterfeiting precious stones1 that all of them could be imitated1 topaz1 lapis lazuli1 and amethyst2 that amber could be coloured1 obsidian used to counterfeit hyacinths1 sapphires1 etc4 ,speaking of the sardonyx1 more especially1 ,pliny says1 8no fraud brings so much money as this40 ,in this line there were also other kinds of fraud4 ,one of the most profitable was the imitation of precious stones with paste ones4 ,there are some imitation cameos that are a puzzle even to-day4 ,commenting upon this fraud1 ,winkelmann benevolently points out that we owe to this unscrupulous commerce of false cameos the preservation of the casts of some precious originals now lost4 ,the marvellous part of these imitation cameos is that the faker was not only able to imitate the plain stone of the original but all its characteristic veining and peculiarities4 ,with regard to bronzes and other metal works it is to be presumed that not only could the ,nobilis rugo of ,horace be easily counterfeited1 as it is to-day1 but the work as well4 ,pliny the ,younger gives us valuable hints about the perplexity that fakery had generated among the connoisseurs of his time4 ,the ,greek artists in particular showed themselves most versatile1 they reproduced in ,rome the most esteemed originals and could to a certain extent imitate the most appreciated types of art4 ,zenodorus1 for example1 copied for ,germanicus a cup by ,calamis in such perfect imitation of the chiselling that the copy could not be told from the original4 ,fraudulent masterpieces of painting and sculpture1 often with the forged signature of some great artist1 as at present times1 were already on the market in ,cicero's time4 ,his 8,odi falsas inscriptiones statuarum alienarum0 is eloquent enough4 ,phdrus seems to complete ,cicero's information about ,roman art faking4 8,it is in this way10 he says1 speaking of faked paintings and sculpture1 8that some of our artists can realize better prices for their work3 by carving the name of ,praxiteles on a modern marble1 the name of ,scopas on a bronze statue1 that of ,myron on a silver-piece1 and by putting the signature of ,zeuxis to a modern painting40 ,we do not intend to confound fakers with honest restorers of works of art1 but in ,roman times1 as is often the case in our own1 faking learned no small lesson from the deft hand of the restorer4 ,the same may be said for imitators and copyists who even in ancient ,rome followed their trade openly with no intention of cheating4 ,copyists in particular were very active and their work was certainly appreciated by a certain class of citizens4 ,the fact is proved by the numerous copies of ,greek masterpieces that have been unearthed in ,rome and elsewhere4 ,when an original was not to be had1 a copy was often ordered4 ,lucullus sent an artist expressly to ,athens to make a copy for him of a work by ,pausias1 the portrait of ,glycera1 the artist's lady love4 ,restorers of works of art were1 in ,rome as elsewhere1 the nearest relatives of fakers2 their ability to imitate antiquity must have proved a great temptation1 and the enormous sums paid for certain objects1 and the gross ignorance of some of the buyers1 must have paved the way to more than one passage from honesty to dishonesty4 ,there were many restorers' workshops in ,rome1 and one has been discovered near the ,forum1 where apparently new limbs and heads were provided for damaged statues4 ,many an antique statue has come down to us already repaired4 ,evander ,aulanius1 says ,pliny 7,,xxxvi1 #e71 restored the head of ,diana1 in the temple of ,apollo1 on the ,palatine4 ,like modern restorers1 their forefathers of ,rome had not always the delicate hand needed for such operations4 ,when the ,prtor ,julius ordered the cleaning of the paintings in the temple of ,apollo it was done in such a rough manner that all the charm of the works disappeared4 ,a fact that may have induced some good connoisseur to advise leaving untouched the ,venus ,anadyomene of ,apelles1 the masterpiece placed by ,csar in the temple of that goddess1 and to let it be damaged by age rather than allow the sacrilegious hand of a restorer to maim the divine painting of the ,greek artist4 ,from what we have been perusing we may conclude that the ,roman artistic world was not entirely different from the artistic world of to-day4 ,certainly the city must have been of a magnificence of which no conception is given by its grandiose ruins4 ,but the artistic life1 and the narrow path of the collector1 were somewhat similar to those of to-day4 ,some of the characters we have quoted would seem to be alive to-day1 a change of name and a milieu of more modern colouring and they would provide ground for an action for libel4 ,we feel quite familiar1 in fact1 with the characters described by ,seneca4 ,even to-day the world possesses collectors of rusty nails and other worthless objects--mere cult of fetishism4 ,we feel no less acquainted with some of the other types to whom ,martial pays his attention4 ,the man who gathers ants fossilized in amber1 the collector of relics who glories in owning a fragment of the ,argonauts' ship1 might both be alive to-day4 ,so might ,lycinius the demented1 ,codrus the penurious and dissatisfied1 ,eros the enthusiast and dreamer4 ,they still exist and are well represented in their various shades of foolishness down to that ,mamurra who used to upset all the shops of the ,roman antiquaries without buying a single thing4 ,would you resuscitate ,tongilius to our modern society just substitute a bright motor-car for his rich and cumbersome lectica and1 for a certainty1 the name of some modern collector of art1 some up-to-date ,mcenas1 will come to your mind4 ,of course1 though ,mr4 ,cook had not yet alighted to relieve itinerant humanity from many troubles1 tourists existed even at the time when ,rome did not possess the modern type of traveller4 ,according to ,titus ,livius many foreigners used to visit the temples of ,porta ,capena1 regular museums of art4 ,the tourists of that time followed a routine1 as we can gather from ,pliny and other writers4 ,they were taken to the ,palatine1 to the ,via ,sacra to admire the temple of ,apollo with its peristyle of fifty-two columns1 adorned by the simulacra of the ,danaides and fifty equestrian statues1 one of the finest sights in ,rome and which inspired ,horace with an ode4 ,this temple of ,luni marble with ivory doors1 surmounted by a quadriga in gilded bronze carrying the god1 was also a museum1 containing among other things a fine collection of gems1 and a room lined with silver in which the ,sibylline ,books were kept4 ,the ,domus ,aurea1 the paintings of ,apelles exhibited in the ,forum of ,augustus1 the temple of ,venus1 one of the finest emporiums of art1 that of ,ceres which contained the celebrated 8,bacchus0 of ,aristides of ,thebes1 the 8,marsias0 in the temple of ,concord1 and in the ,capitol the 8,theseus0 of ,zeuxis1 in ,pompey's portico the 8,soldier0 by ,polygnotus1 in the temple of ,peace the 8,hero0 by ,timante and another famous work by ,protogenes4 ,there were of course foolish tourists who1 like to-day1 insisted on being fed with more or less authentic anecdotes of relics of an impossible character1 who believed the unbelievable4 ,thus1 according to ,procopius1 who evidently believed the genuineness of the relic1 many tourists went to see the boat1 still moored in the river1 from which neas had landed in ,italy1 etc4 ,this kind of tourist must have inspired ,lucian with the comment that ,greek guides in ,rome might have starved but for the nonsense and legends with which they enriched their descriptions of the city4 8,but what of that10 remarks ,lucian1 8visitors like to hear such things1 and do not seem interested in the truth even if offered to them free of charge40 ,the revival of the past needed this slight touch to show that the artistic world of two thousand years ago was not1 after all1 dissimilar to that of our enlightened days4 ,need we repeat that the phenomenon of art faking for the benefit of foolish lovers of art generally appears when the passion for collecting takes that ,byzantine attitude which makes it ripe for decay and degeneration1 when mania1 fashion and snobbery chiefly hold the ground instead of taste and genuine love of art1 in fact when the parvenus or the lunatic submerge the intelligent collector4 ,it follows consequently that the decline of ,collectomania heralds the decline of ,forgery4 ,the latter1 its errand over with the cessation of the demand for antiques and curios1 disappears to await a fresh chance4 ,but the fake-festival and carnival will revive1 phnix-like1 with the awakening of a new artistic world--just as though faking at certain moments answered to a sore need of society4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,decadence ,,of ,,art ,,and ,,consequent ,,changes ,decadence of art and consequent change in the artistic milieu-- ,byzantine art--,its new views do not seem to favour old ways-- ,art patronage and collectomania tend to disappear--,the medieval period--,character of the collections--,no imitators but a few forgers4 ,the change affecting the world with the decadence of the ,roman ,empire was logically bound to stamp the successive course of art with the inevitable downfall of past glory4 ,with the ,christian era a new society had arisen and also a new art1 entirely symbolic1 no more satisfied with the early plagarisms1 apparently lisping a new tongue but ready to dispel all pagan sentiment in art1 to establish the elements of a new expression and purpose more in harmony with the reborn civilization4 ,with an art that ,taine considers 8after five centuries to be unable to represent man except seated or standing erect10 symbolic and calligraphic at the same time1 there seemed to be no room for amateurs and collectors of the old type4 ,there may have been sporadic cases1 though ,constantine's severe censure of all the cults of the past doubtlessly made it a daring act at that time to profess worship for old traditions in art4 ,collectomania very likely became a thing of the past4 ,there must have been dealers in art and antiques1 as we can gather from the ,digest1 and transactions between artists and clients1 as can be seen from a clause of the ,justinian laws1 but nothing like there were in the ancient ,roman world that had been dispersed by the new civilization4 ,this clause ,justinian was forced to add to a law on artistic property1 as judges had so lost all sense of art appreciation that in a dispute between a painter and the man who had furnished the board on which the work was painted1 they decided that the painting belonged to the one who owned the board4 ,justinian was forced to do justice by stating that if a quarrel arose between the artist and the one who furnished the board the owner of the work was the artist1 as the value of the board could not be compared with the artistic one4 8,think10 he concludes1 8of comparing the value of the work of ,apelles or ,parrhasius with the price of a board of very small value40 ,the time for lovers of art1 for private speculations and the all but consequent faking1 and all the characteristic figures of an art market had disappeared4 ,in the early medieval period there seems to have been no scope for faking and forgery4 ,the collector1 if the type then existing is entitled to the name1 was like nothing that had been seen before or has since appeared4 ,the objects treasured generally had more intrinsic value than real artistic merit4 ,a collection represented a simple form of banking1 a sound and good investment taking the place of what the ,french call 8personal property40 ,with such views1 goldsmiths' work1 studded and ornamented with precious stones1 or rich embroideries in gold1 naturally had the preference4 ,articles of virtu then had a solid value1 and while suitable for princely display1 could be turned into money at any moment4 ,the craze for manuscripts1 rare penmanship1 and early illuminated parchments may represent an exception1 but only1 apparently1 as such objects--apart from their rarity1 skill and supreme patience in miniature work--were of such an established value as to be regarded like precious gems4 ,the medieval collections of art and precious things give a true expression of those unsafe and uncertain times and were in harmony with the erratic career of the monarchs and potentates whose peculiar mode of life often necessitated the packing of the whole museum into a coffer and dragging it with them in their pilgrimages1 wars1 etc4 ,this not only in some way explains the preference given to goldsmiths' work but the fact that the dimensions of sculpture had to be reduced1 and painting1 when not for church decoration1 was mostly restricted to miniatures1 illumination1 and designs for tapestries and embroideries4 ,clovis1 the 8,most ,christian ,king10 as ,pope ,anastasius called him1 is supposed to have been an eager collector of rare and precious objects4 ,tradition claims that a saint one day broke one of his rarest cups of jasper all studded with precious stones1 and seeing ,clovis' sorrow at such a loss1 picked up the fragments and praying over them1 performed a miracle1 handing to the monarch the cup restored to one piece as before4 ,clotaire1 the son of ,clovis1 had in his mansion at ,braine a secret room with chests full of jewellery and precious vases4 ,chilperic had a real ambition to collect rare objects of virtu4 ,for this purpose he sent everywhere for all that might be worthy of his collection4 ,gregory of ,tours tells us that he had a ,jew as adviser1 a man called ,priseus4 ,it is said that when ,chilperic exhibited at ,nogent-sur-,marne the presents offered him by the ,emperor ,tiberius ,,ii1 to show that they did not surpass in splendour the best pieces of his own treasure1 he exhibited close to them one of his precious cups1 a golden vase studded with rare stones and weighing fifty pounds4 ,twenty years later1 between #efj and #ehj1 ,saint ,radegond1 the daughter of the king of ,thuringia1 received the poet and canon ,fortunatus in her convent of ,poitiers and gave him a dinner with the table covered in roses and the richest ornamented silver plates and precious jasper cups4 ,such a treat inspired the poet with one of his fine ,latin poems4 ,dagobert was not only an enlightened collector of precious things but so extremely fond of artistic 8vaisselle0 that when ,sisinande1 a ,gothic king1 wished to induce the ,frankish monarch to join him in his political schemes he promised ,dagobert a fine gold plate weighing five pounds 8and more precious still for the beauty of the workmanship40 ,after a long lapse of time1 in which the only museums of the art of the time seem to have been the churches1 under ,charlemagne and his successors private collections of treasures1 art and fine pieces of work again seem to acquire importance4 ,the ,bibliothque ,nationale of ,paris owns an vangliaire of rare artistic value1 illuminated by a monk named ,godescal of the year #gha4 ,the ,bible and ,psalter of ,charles the ,bald are said to have been the work of the monks of ,saint-,martin de ,tours1 and are considered a marvel of illumination4 ,together with these books1 now kept in the ,librairie ,nationale of ,paris1 ,charles presented to the ,church of ,saint ,denis a famous cup known in his time as ,ptolemy's cup1 a fine work carved from a piece of precious sardonyx4 ,in the will of this monarch's brother1 the ,marquis of ,friuli1 a document dated #hgj1 there is1 among other legacies1 the enumeration of arms studded with precious stones1 clothes in silk and gold embroideries1 silver vases and ivory cups1 finely chiselled1 and a library in which among other notable works are the writings of ,saint ,basil1 ,saint ,isidore and ,saint ,cyprian4 ,from this time forward a collection of rare things and precious jewels is quite a necessary apanage of kings and princes1 but as we have said1 it mostly consisted of small objects in which art almost invariably seems to have played a secondary rle1 and in considering the art it is often hard to know whether to admire more the miniaturist's patience or his workmanship4 ,later on the cult of pagan art seems to have been revived by the ,emperor ,frederick ,,ii1 the son of ,barbarossa1 but even at this time the case is somewhat of an exception4 ,under patrons of art who were as a rule absolute monarchs or iron rulers and all-powerful princes1 fakery would have played a dangerous and most sorrowful part1 nor was there any inducement to indulge in any of the trickery that had characterized the world of lovers of art during the ,roman decadence4 ,a risky game at any time1 it might have entailed one of those exemplary punishments which characterized the ferocious ,middle ,ages4 ,coin counterfeiting was naturally the least artistic form of deceit1 and being a less hazardous venture seems to have tempted ability in all ages4 ,it represents a link between more proficient periods of art swindling4 ,some of these early fakers certainly planted the seed from which sprang the arch-deceivers and clever medallists of the ,renaissance4 ,there lies ,romena1 where ,i falsified ,the alloy that is with the ,baptist stamped ,for which on earth ,i left my body burned4 ,these words ,dante puts into the mouth of ,mastro ,adamo da ,brescia1 a skilful counterfeiter of coins whom he met in hell4 ,adamo was burned at the stake near the castle of ,romena in the ,casentino1 for having cast1 by order of the ,count of ,romena1 the golden florin of the ,florentine ,republic4 ,about this time counterfeit coining tempted the most diverse classes of people4 ,it had a long list of devotees1 including even a king of ,france who honoured the ,republic of ,florence with not a few of his swindling specimens of the golden florin4 ,marostica1 a village in the ,venetian domains1 challenged and defeated the powerful ,republic of the lagoon by flooding the ,venetian market with the most deceptive samples of false coinage4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,renaissance ,,period ,initiation of the ,renaissance period--,newly born passion for the antique--,the ,mcenas and the collector--,plagiarians1 imitators and fakers--,cola di ,rienzi1 archologist--,a collection of the fourteenth century--,artists1 writers and travellers hunting for antiques--,niccoli1 the ,medicis1 ,cardinal ,scarampi and others--,the ,medici collection dispersed by the ,florentine mob4 ,the ,renaissance fakers of art have a somewhat nobler pedigree when compared with those of other epochs4 ,the early artists from whom they sprang were not actual imitators of the ,greeks and ,romans1 but were inspired by them to reproduce that pagan expression which had deeply affected their artistic temperament4 ,were these artists doing it purely for art's sake1 or had they the hope that their work might pass as antique8 ,the answer to this is perhaps to be deduced from the character of the age not yet fully ripe for artistic deception4 ,the sentiment for1 and cult of1 the antique were certainly growing during this early part of the ,renaissance2 they did not come in a sudden burst1 but had been gradually developing in the previous years4 ,as a matter of fact1 already in the transitional period which prepared the highest artistic accomplishment of the ,renaissance1 collections and collectors were becoming not only eclectic in taste1 but seem to have been guided by a real artistic fondness for the art of the past4 ,it is no more a question of solid silver and jewels1 but of statues and paintings4 ,catalogues no longer read like that of ,charles ,,vi of ,france3 8,inventoire des joyaux1 vaiselle d'or et d'argent estant au ,louvre et en la ,bastille ,paris appartenent feu le roy ,charles10 followed by a monotonous enumeration of jewels1 vaiselle1 etc41 but are like that of the ,medici collection1 and include all the most varied expressions of art--sculpture1 paintings1 medals1 carving1 cameos1 rare jewels1 etc4 ,in the early part of the #adth century we know that ,cola di ,rienzi1 the ,roman ,tribune1 collected inscriptions4 ,one of his biographers tells us that ,cola 8occupied himself every day with inscriptions cut into marble1 which were to be found round ,rome4 ,no one could decipher the ancient epitaphs like him4 ,he translated all the ancient writings and gave the right interpretation to these marbles40 ,it was between the years #acdd-dg that ,cola compiled a work on ,roman inscriptions1 re-edited a century later by ,signorili in his ,descriptio urbis ,rom4 ,oliver ,forza1 or ,forzetta1 who flourished about the year #acce1 seems to have owned the first complete collection of which we have notice4 ,forzetta was a wealthy citizen of ,treviso4 ,we know that in the above year of #acce he came to ,venice to buy several pieces for his collection1 manuscripts of the works of ,seneca1 ,ovid1 ,sallust1 ,cicero1 ,titus1 ,livius1 etc41 goldsmiths' work1 fifty medals that had been promised him by a certain ,simon1 crystals1 bronzes1 four statues in marble1 others representing lions1 horses1 nude figures1 etc4 ,the latter seem to have belonged to an earlier collector named ,perenzolo4 ,to point out that even outside ,italy taste had changed at the beginning of the #aeth century1 we may quote the following description handed down to us by ,guillebert de ,metz4 ,it gives a full account of the collection of ,jacques ,duchie1 a ,parisian1 and indicates that at this early time ,paris must have possessed more than one of these collections of art and curios4 8,the house of master ,duchie in the rue des ,prouvelles10 says ,guillebert de ,metz1 8the door of which is carved with marvellous artistry2 in the courtyard there were peacocks and diverse fancy birds4 ,the first hall is adorned with diverse pictures and instructive texts fixed to and hung on the walls4 ,another hall filled with all manner of instruments1 harps1 organs1 viols1 guitars1 psalters1 and others1 upon all of which the said master ,jacques knew how to play4 ,another hall was furnished with chess tables and other diverse kinds of games1 great in number4 ,item1 a beautiful chapel where there were stands to place books upon1 marvellously wrought1 which had been sent from diverse places far and near1 to the right and to the left4 ,item1 a study the walls of which were covered with precious stones and with spices of sweet odour4 ,item1 several other rooms richly furnished with beds and with ingeniously carved tables and adorned with rich hangings and cloth of gold4 ,item1 in another lofty room were a great number of cross-bows1 some of which were painted with beautiful figures4 ,here were standards1 banners1 pennons1 bows1 pikes1 swords1 lances1 battle-axes1 iron and lead armour1 pavais1 shields1 bucklers1 cannon and other engines1 with arms in abundance1 and1 briefly1 there were also all manner of war implements4 ,item1 there was a window of wonderful workmanship1 through which you put a hollow iron mask through which you could look out and speak to those outside1 if occasion arose1 without making yourself known4 ,item1 above the whole house was a square room with windows on every side from which one could overlook the town4 ,and when it came to eating1 food and drink were sent up by a pulley1 because it would have been too high up to carry4 ,and above the pinnacles of the house were beautiful gilt figures4 ,this master ,jacques ,duchie was a handsome man #8de honneste hebit' and very distinguished2 he kept well-mannered and well-trained servants of pleasing countenance1 among whom was a master carpenter who was constantly at work at the mansion40 ,but ,italy at the early part of this century was far more advanced4 ,there was no question here of collectors of dubious taste or odd fancy for the simply curious2 on the contrary we are confronted by real connoisseurs and genuine lovers of art1 intelligent and eager hunters after all sorts of articles of virtu of past art2 and also enlightened art patrons who were munificent toward their contemporary painters1 sculptors and literary men4 ,taste had changed1 and some tendencies merely outlined at the time when religion seemed to absorb all the activities of art1 were now in full growth4 ,that which in the art of the ,cosmati appeared to be a ,byzantine aping ,roman art1 all that seemed plagiarism of this classic art in ,nicola ,pisano1 takes an interestingly different course with ,donatello1 ,brunellesco1 and all of those artists whom a wrong convention calls the forerunners of the ,renaissance instead of calling them the real creators of that great artistic movement4 ,the passion for the antique was reviving4 ,it was no longer a question of sporadic cases but rather of a wide-spreading taste4 ,roman art was in the air4 ,besides ,rienzi1 this cult of antique memories had already claimed his friend ,petrarch and the learned ,dondi1 a physician from ,padua1 who visited ,rome in the year #acge to crown a long course of study devoted to the antique4 ,in a letter addressed to his friend ,guglielmo da ,cremona1 ,giovanni proclaims the superiority of antique art and is certain that modern artists will be the first to recognize the fact and learn from it4 ,poor and hard-working1 ,dondi regrets that his profession1 his ailing patients1 take so much of his time4 ,but for the profession1 8,i would rise as high as the stars10 he naively declares4 ,ciriaco d',ancona1 another great eager collector and intelligent hunter after fine things1 visits the ,orient and ,greece in search of manuscripts and relics of art2 ,francesco ,squarcione comes from the ,east1 bringing to his native ,padua fine ,greek works1 and is perhaps the first artist to devote himself to antiques1 just as ,niccolo ,niccoli1 a ,florentine lover of art1 represents at this time the learned amateur of taste4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,alinari ,,diomedes ,,with ,,the ,,palladium4 ,an imitation of the antique by ,donatello's ,school 787 and a free copy of ,niccoli's cameo1 a ,greek work4 ,palazzo ,riccordi1 ,florence4 ,niccoli is really one of the finest types of collectors4 ,born at a time when ,florence demanded that each citizen should belong to one or other of the factions that kept civil war alive in the city1 he nevertheless managed to keep free from all civil strife4 ,his house was the temple of art and of neutrality4 ,a friend of the powerful and wealthy ,medicis1 who by the way trusted to his infallible eye as a connoisseur whenever rare things were offered1 ,niccoli never took advantage of this unusual position1 but kept himself far from all ambition and was possessed by the sole desire to collect art1 study old manuscripts1 and be an ever-obliging helper to students4 ,the friends and admirers who came in flocks for advice1 to borrow his rare manuscripts1 or to visit his fine emporium of art1 were always well received4 ,niccolo ,niccoli was born in the year #acfc4 ,the son of a rich ,florentine merchant he was forced in his youth to give all his activities to commerce4 ,liberated from the tie of a profession for which he had no call1 he finally gave himself to his cherished study of art and literature1 attending the lessons of ,luigi ,marsigli and ,emanuele ,chrysoloras4 ,his studies were thus the stepping-stone to the collecting of antiquities4 ,in the year #adad his fame had already extended beyond the city walls4 ,the ,chancellor of the city of ,padua addressed him in a letter as 8clarissimus vetustatis cultor40 ,notwithstanding his great wealth1 such was his passion that but for the discreet help of the ,medici1 the powerful ,cosimo and his brother ,lorenzo1 who became ,niccoli's benevolent bankers1 on more than one occasion this enlightened amateur might have been forced to sell his precious collection1 or at least do that which is most hateful to the true lover of art1 sell the best that years of patient work had gathered together4 ,what is most surprising is the fact that ,niccoli managed to make one of the finest collections of art of his day almost without leaving his native city4 ,we know of him as going once to ,padua to secure a rare manuscript of ,petrarch1 and later on as accompanying his friend and protector1 ,cosimo ,medici1 to ,verona1 a trip the latter undertook in the year #adbj4 ,with ,cosimo again he visited ,rome1 to be horrified at the mutilation inflicted upon the ,eternal ,city by barbarians of all ages and denominations4 ,yet without moving from his native city1 keen-eyed ,niccoli managed to search the world with the help of agents and friends--some of them1 no doubt1 the practised servants of the ,medicis4 ,there was hardly a rare thing discovered1 no matter where1 but the fact came to ,niccoli's ears1 and the 8find0 generally found its way to this enlightened ,florentine's collection4 ,once he even had the fortune to discover a fine sample of ,greek art in ,florence1 a few steps from the door of his house4 ,it was the well-known cameo which he attributed to ,polycletus and which was afterwards so often reproduced by the artists of the ,renaissance4 ,niccoli discovered this rare piece of chalcedony hanging round the neck of a street urchin4 ,he asked him who his father was and found him to be a poor workman4 ,he went to see him1 and to the man's surprise offered for the stone the round sum of #e golden ducats4 ,it is curious to trace the migrations of ,niccoli's 8calcedonio10 as the piece was called later4 ,when ,cardinal ,scarampi--the ,patriarch of ,aquileia and the most passionate collector of his time--came to ,florence1 he went to visit ,niccoli and his collection4 ,there he became so enamoured of the 8calcedonio0 that he proposed to buy it4 ,niccoli1 who could hardly refuse the favour to the powerful and influential ,cardinal1 consented to part with the rare piece for #bjj ducats4 ,later on the 8calcedonio0 entered the collection of ,pope ,paul ,,ii1 to pass finally to that of ,lorenzo il ,magnifico4 ,in an inventory belonging to the ,medici family the gem is valued at #aejj golden florins4 ,not dissimilar from certain modern and older types of collectors1 ,niccoli was what might be called a strange character4 ,while spending large sums of money on his articles of virtu1 he was almost parsimonious in his household1 although he liked to drink from rare cups and set his table most richly with all sorts of precious vases4 ,one of his peculiarities was always to be dressed in pink4 ,he had an endless wardrobe of these rosy-hued garments and was as preoccupied with them as he was with the rare objects of his collection4 ,these and other oddities were naturally the subject of gibes and sarcasm from friends and unfriendly humanists1 but ,niccoli never answered one written line1 content to retaliate with his witty and cutting tongue4 ,he certainly had the best of it in this curious duel1 for he forced ,aurispa and ,filelfe to leave the town1 and also1 perhaps not through his sarcastic tongue alone but through some ,medicean intrigue1 compelled his enemies1 ,emanuel ,chrysoloras1 his former teacher1 and ,guarino to make themselves very scarce in the city4 ,niccolo ,niccoli's name brings us straight to that of his protectors1 the ,medicis1 the family who as collectors of art and fosterers of literature and philosophy surpassed every one of their age4 ,cardinal ,scarampi's collection1 that of ,pietro ,barbe1 afterwards ,paul ,,ii1 and even the most complete of all1 that of ,niccoli1 become rather minor stars when compared with the artistic treasures gathered by the ,medicis for generations4 ,this illustrious ,florentine family seems to have been for centuries nothing but a succession of patrons of the fine arts4 8,no art collection10 says ,eugene ,mntz in his ,les ,collections des ,mdicis1 8has more deeply influenced the art of the ,renaissance1 no collection has passed through more trials than the one of this family4 ,ten generations of enthusiastic amateurs have given themselves to its enrichment2 the greatest artists1 ,donatello1 ,ghiberti1 ,verrocchio1 the two ,lippi1 ,ghirlandaio1 ,botticelli1 ,leonardo da ,vinci1 ,michelangelo and ,raphael have sought inspiration and models in the ,medici collection4 ,this while1 by an unaccountable contradiction1 all the revolutions that troubled the city of ,florence seem to have continually threatened the existence of such an inestimable gathering40 ,to be convinced of the extreme importance of the ,medici collection one has but to reflect that what now remains of it in the ,florentine museums or in well-known private hands is only the smallest part of those past treasures1 which has managed to survive the pillage of the collection in the year #adid1 when ,piero ,medici fled and the ,medici palace was sacked by the populace and the remaining effects sold and dispersed by order of the ,commune4 ,what was later recovered by the family was only a small part of the collection4 ,an idea of the magnitude of the ,medici museum of art can be gained by perusing the accurate inventories still remaining in the ,florentine archives1 the list of the objects left by ,cosimo the ,elder to his son ,piero and the catalogue of the collection belonging to ,lorenzo il ,magnifico1 and finally the account of their money4 ,a brief study of the character of the two most important collectors of the ,medici family1 ,cosimo and ,lorenzo il ,magnifico1 will enable us to judge of the quality and tendencies of the amateur of the ,renaissance4 ,the characteristics of the time in which ,cosimo lived and the fact that he had spent a long period in exile1 a misfortune brought upon him by jealousy1 gave his inclinations as an amateur a different course from what they might otherwise have had4 ,thus1 while on the one hand ,cosimo never lost a chance to help artists and to acquire fine works of art1 he was shrewd enough to do so without ostentation1 to avoid arousing enmity from adversaries4 ,but for this peculiar feeling ,cosimo's palace1 the present ,palazzo ,riccardi1 one of the most sumptuous monuments of ,florence1 might have been still more imposing1 displaying greater architectural wealth4 ,it is known that ,brunelleschi's project was privately preferred by ,cosimo1 but he did not dare to arouse old jealousies by too sumptuous a display4 ,michelozzo's design was chosen as the more modest of the two and thus better fitted for the 8bourgeois prince0 of ,florence4 ,notwithstanding the necessity for caution even in liberality1 ,cosimo encouraged ,poggio ,bracciolini and many others in their intelligent search for manuscripts and rare parchments4 ,he had ,niccoli as an invaluable adviser and helper1 and left to his son ,piero one of the finest collections of antiques4 ,his grandson1 ,lorenzo il ,magnifico1 was more free-handed4 ,times had changed1 the ,medici family1 though without heraldic title1 was now master of the city1 and the splendours of a man of taste1 such as ,lorenzo1 and his prodigal inclinations1 knew no restraint whatever4 ,the difference between ,cosimo and ,lorenzo lay perhaps in the fact that the former could not do half what he might have done4 ,comparing ,niccoli and ,lorenzo1 one might say that the former tallied more with the modern interpretation of the word collector1 while the latter1 as being far too eclectic a lover of all sorts of artistic expression1 was more cut out for the part of an enlightened ,mcenas1 a prince-amateur and a generous patron of art and literature4 ,one can hardly even imagine the ,magnifico classifying his cameos as did ,niccoli1 or giving a semi-scientific and rational order to his objects of virtu1 but1 running on the same lines as ,cosimo1 ,lorenzo invested in the rle of patron of art and lover of the antique1 in which he displayed such magnificence as to fully deserve his appellation4 ,such was the character of these two ,medicis1 stated by contemporaries as being more greedy for fame than money4 ,an estimation fully justified1 especially in the case of ,lorenzo1 who in his ,ricordi notes that his father and grandfather spent #ffc1gee florins in the space of thirty years and rejoices in the fact4 ,the sum quoted amounts to rather more than a million francs2 how many modern heirs would feel like ,lorenzo il ,magnifico8 ,like ,niccoli and ,cosimo1 ,lorenzo possessed the excellent quality1 most uncommon in a collector1 of letting friends and admirers have full benefit of his collection4 ,more than the gratification of an egotistic desire to possess rare and beautiful things1 he saw in his artistic pursuits a great means of education and a help to the artists of his time4 ,according to the taste of his age1 ,lorenzo was very partial to ,greek and ,roman art1 to all that concerned past civilization4 ,a page of ,plato or the beautiful form of a ,greek marble aroused in him feelings of emotion more than any modern expression4 ,not only did he fill his palace with fine pieces of sculpture but his villas also appear to have been replete with them4 8,he was bursting with joy10 ,valori1 one of his contemporaries tells us1 8when he received the bust of ,plato sent him by ,girolamo ,roscio40 ,this passion for the antique1 however1 did not prevent ,lorenzo from encouraging the artists of his own time or from taking a deep interest in their art4 ,eclectic in taste1 as a collector he nevertheless had some preferences4 ,in a letter to his son ,giulio1 the future ,leo ,x1 on his promotion to the ,cardinalate1 he gives advice as to the kind of art which is most in keeping with ecclesiastical taste1 but as a matter of fact epitomizes his own penchant as a collector of art4 ,urging his son to give preference to antique statuary1 he discourages him from becoming a collector of jewels1 tapestries and embroideries4 8,love in preference10 he recommends1 8fine antique things and books0--qualche gentilezza di cose antiche4 ,lorenzo the ,magnificent seems to stand apart from the lovers of art of his time not only on account of his culture and intelligence1 his broad eclectic views and genuine cult of every expression of beauty1 but as being a rare type of the grand seigneur1 sthete and humanist4 ,paul ,,ii is a passionate collector of art1 but more a scholar than an artist1 with him knowledge is supreme2 ,cardinal ,scarampi is1 as ,ciriaco ,d',ancona calls him1 an archologist1 and ,niccoli1 as an eager and intelligent searcher of objects1 would make a good type of antiquary of our day1 but ,lorenzo displays interest in every kind of elevated human expression2 his character seems to conform to his noble motto1 ,nul ne sait qui n'essaye 7nobody knows who does not try74 ,his reputation as a connoisseur and expert in art spread afar4 ,princes and monarchs asked his advice4 ,lorenzo is not only prodigal in this respect1 but also in the artistic things of his collection which he sends as presents4 ,to ,mathias ,corvinus he sent a bust by ,verrocchio1 to the ,count of ,madaloni of ,naples a fine horse's head--now in the museum of that city--a rare piece of work which until lately was taken for ,greek but is now attributed to ,donatello4 ,the ,duke of ,calabria asks him for an architect1 and he sends him one2 in the year #adhh he sends to ,ferdinand1 king of ,naples1 a fine plan of a palace by ,giuliano da ,sangallo1 and later he introduces ,leonardo da ,vinci to ,lodovico il ,moro1 ,filippino ,lippi to ,cardinal ,carafa1 ,sansovino to the king of ,portugal4 ,in connection with odd requests that came to ,lorenzo from princes and monarchs there is a queer one from ,louis ,,xi4 ,the ,french king asks the ,magnificent to lend him for a while the miraculous ring of the ,florentine patron saint1 ,san ,zanobi1 pledging himself to restore the ring to the owners--very likely the ,girolami of ,florence--and begging ,lorenzo to tell him how and in what way it must be worn to perform the miracle1 cure his gout and restore him to health4 ,through his love of art and his munificence towards artists ,lorenzo became practically bankrupt1 and certainly had no scruples about using public funds for his private purposes4 ,not that he was fond of personal display1 on the contrary he detested outlays that had no public utility or did not foster some progress4 ,rinuccini1 another of his contemporaries1 tells us of ,lorenzo's indifference to personal luxury and of his dislike for society functions4 8,all the things that in olden days10 says ,rinuccini1 8gave grace and reputation to the citizens2 like weddings1 dances and ftes and handsome clothes1 he condemned them all and did away with them through his example and his words40 ,a detailed description of his character as a collector and the quality of his passion is not so eloquent of ,lorenzo's particular penchant as his ,ricordi4 ,take1 for instance1 these words concerning his mission to ,rome at the elevation to the ,holy ,see of ,cardinal ,della ,rovere4 8,in the month of ,september1 #adga1 ,i was sent as ambassador to attend the coronation of ,pope ,sixtus4 ,i was the recipient of many honours in ,rome and brought back from the city two antique busts1 the portraits of ,augustus and ,agrippa1 given to me by the ,pope4 ,i also brought with me the carved cup of chalcedony and many cameos and medals40 ,it must be said that in forming his collection the ,magnifico never lost sight of ,rome and its treasures4 ,he had many agents in the ,eternal ,city excavating and looking for antiques to add to his collection4 ,his intercourse with these accomplices1 the ruses employed1 the adroit management of influential prelates opposed to ,lorenzo's schemes1 and grieved that rare things should leave ,rome1 form an interesting chapter of diplomacy4 ,glyptography was given preference in ,lorenzo's collection4 ,some of his cameos and engraved precious stones are now the rarest things in our modern museums4 ,then came a fine collection of coins and medals1 #bc1jjj pieces in all1 and another of ,etruscan vases4 ,his statues1 which ,verrocchio and other artists were often charged to repair1 filled to overflowing his palazzo in ,florence and his villas4 ,to his assistance came not only special agents1 but friends as well4 ,a magnificent vase was obtained by ,lorenzo from ,venice1 and it was through the mediation of his literary friend ,politiano that the rare find got into the ,magnifico's collection4 ,politiano writes from ,venice to his friend and patron on ,june #bjth1 #adia1 that ,messer ,zaccharia has just received from ,greece una terra cotta antiquissima and that he believes it to be worthy of ,lorenzo's collection4 ,antonio ,yvane writing to ,donato ,acciaioli says that a little statue of ,hercules has been found at ,luni1 and that it and other antiques excavated are to be sent to ,lorenzo4 ,one of his agents sent him a marble statue with an ,etruscan inscription2 from ,siena1 ,lorenzo receives a bust that sends him into raptures1 and he immediately wishes to buy it4 ,to give an idea of his appreciation and willingness to pay whatever it might be worth1 we quote part of his letter dated ,may #aeth1 #adij1 addressed to ,andrea da ,foiano then at ,siena4 8,ser ,andrea1 ,i received your letter last night1 and with it the head which you sent me and which1 on account of its being fine and having much of the antique beauty1 ,i would most willingly buy from him who owns it1 if he will part with it for what it is worth40 ,though there is no document to support the fact1 this bust is possibly the one that ,p4 della ,valle says was sent from ,siena to ,lorenzo1 representing a head of ,jupiter1 of such a character that beheld from one side it had a benign expression1 and from the other a terrifying one4 ,naples also contributed its share to the ,medicean collection1 from whence arrive the portraits of ,faustina and ,scipio ,africanus1 a fine bust of ,hadrian and a sleeping ,cupid4 ,these last two statues were conveyed to him by ,giuliano da ,sangallo1 who under ,lorenzo's directions had asked them of the king of ,naples4 ,as a collector and type of antiquary not disdaining a good bargain1 and perhaps influenced by the lineage of shrewd bankers1 from which he sprang1 ,lorenzo made more than one good stroke of business4 ,from ,pope ,sixtus ,,iv he managed to buy the artistic treasure of the ,holy ,see at such a ridiculous price as to arouse protests from the ,pontifical accountants4 ,the deal1 which was carried through by ,lorenzo's uncle1 ,giovanni ,tornabuoni1 caused a scandal that only the ,pope's authority managed to silence1 and the ,medici collection became enriched by many fine pieces4 ,among them1 the so-called 8,tazza ,farnese10 now one of the finest pieces of the ,naples ,museum1 to which the inventory of the collection gives a value of #aj1jjj ducats1 and the rare ,greek work known as the 8,rape of the ,palladium10 rated by the same inventory at the sum of #aejj ducats4 ,this celebrated cameo had formerly belonged to ,niccoli4 ,donatello copied it for one of his medallions of the ,medici palace4 ,there were other dealings between the ,medici and the ,holy ,see1 but we fail to know how advantageous they may have been for either side4 ,in the year #adfj the ,medici sold a piece of tapestry to ,pope ,pius ,,ii for the not inconsiderable sum of #abjj golden ducats1 and later on1 through the above-quoted agent1 ,giovanni ,tornabuoni1 in the year #adhd several yards of common tapestry were sold to the ,pope by the ,medicis4 ,we have spoken at greater length of ,lorenzo il ,magnifico as he appears to us to symbolize the type of ,mcenas and collector of his epoch1 but all ,italian princes were more or less art lovers and collectors at that time1 as well as being shrewd bargain drivers on occasion4 ,as an example of this1 one is led straight to ,isabella d',este and her hard dealings with ,mantegna4 ,intelligent1 keen-eyed and a good connoisseur1 ,isabella had set her heart on a ,faustina antica in the possession of the ,paduan painter1 but did not wish to pay the price demanded by the artist4 ,negotiations were carried on for quite a time4 ,knowing ,mantegna's straightened circumstances1 ,isabella coolly and almost cruelly waited the favourable moment to take best advantage of the artist's distressing situation4 ,pressed by all sorts of needs1 the aged artist finally decides to part with his best antique1 the portrait of ,faustina1 a work of art he adored4 ,conscious of having served the house of ,gonzaga most faithfully and knowing ,isabella's intelligence and admiration for his bust of 8,faustina antica10 as he calls it1 he determined to offer her the work for a hundred ducats4 ,in his letter dated from ,mantua1 ,january #acth1 #aejf1 he tells ,isabella all his troubles and how hard it is for him to part with his cherished bust1 but also how glad he would be if she will take it1 or as he says3 8,since ,i have to deprive myself of it1 ,i would rather you had it than any other ,lord or ,lady in the world40 ,to this pitiful letter1 ending with the touching appeal3 8,i recommend myself to your ,excellency many and many times10 ,isabella replies later by sending one of her agents1 whose letter to her is full of an astute spirit of bargaining and runs as follows3 8,in compliance with what your ,signoria writes me1 ,i will call to-morrow morning on ,messer ,andrea ,mantegna and will act as shrewdly as possible about the ,faustina 7far l'opera con pi destro e acconcio modo saper7 and will inform your ,excellency of the result at once4 ,giovanni ,calandra ,mantua1 ,july #adth1 #aejf40 ,a second letter from ,giovanni ,calandra informs ,isabella that the artist is obdurate as to the price4 ,that though he is in extreme need he hates to part with his ,faustina di marmo antica and asks pardon for the refusal1 that he hopes to find his price with ,monsignor ,vescovo di ,gonzaga1 who has the reputation1 ,calandra states1 to be keen on these things4 ,dealings through the agent go on1 till one day the latter announces to the ,marchesa ,isabella ,gonzaga that she has become the possessor of the ,faustina antica1 which is already shipped to her 7,mando per burchiello a posta la ,faustina a ,s4,v471 provided she agrees to the price2 if not the agent begs that the bust may be sent back1 in accordance with his promise given to the painter1 should the price not be agreed upon 7acci possi disobbligar la fede data a ,m4 ,andrea ,mantegna74 ,negotiations between ,isabella ,gonzaga and the penurious artist who had covered with glory the prince he had served and had decorated with magnificent frescoes the room of ,isabella's mansion1 lasted from ,january #acth1 #aejf1 to ,august #bnd of the same year4 ,these are but a few incidents of the day4 ,all ,italy was collecting4 ,excitement over antiques had now become a mania1 and this is perhaps the best justification for imitators to have turned into fakers4 ,at this period art collecting ranged from its highest votaries1 ,lorenzo ,medici1 the ,duke of ,urbino1 ,este1 ,gonzaga1 ,sforza1 ,arragona1 down to common citizens who were earnest and intelligent collectors4 ,one thing to be noted in this epoch is the total absence of the parvenu collector so fully represented in the ,roman period4 ,there may be an occasional case of snobbery1 like that of ,cardinal di ,san ,giorgio1 who refused to keep in his house an excellent imitation of ,michelangelo1 because1 though having deceived him and many others1 it was not actually genuine1 although far better than some of the rubbish of his collection which contained indiscriminatingly anything that had been unearthed in ,rome1 but a ,tongilius1 a ,euctus1 and above all a ,trimalcho1 do not seem to have existed in the ,renaissance period4 ,if they did1 they were surely minor characters and quite outside the world of real amateurs4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,imitation1 ,,plagiarism ,,and ,,faking ,the artists' passion for the antique--,brunelleschi1 ,donatello and their followers--,florence1 the ,school of ,padua1 ,venice-- ,imitation1 plagiarism and faking--,the plaquettes and their curious transformations of some ,greek and ,roman originals--,the character of the imitations and that of the intended victims4 ,there is no occasion here to lose oneself in arguments as to whether the artist was the primal cause of the awakening of the taste for the antique1 or whether it was a mere synthetic translation of a sentiment already awakened through complex causes1 the main one being1 perhaps1 classic literature4 ,classicism1 lately developed into an entirely pagan sthetic sentiment1 a combination of ,philhellenic and ,latin tendencies1 may as well have influenced art as life in general--a sentiment that at the moment of its maturity aroused anathematic protest from ,savonarola and a momentary reaction of pietism4 ,however1 the preaching of the friar and his colossal bonfire of art treasures in ,piazza della ,signoria were mere incidents in the course of ,florentine tendencies of art4 ,the ,piagnoni in ,florence may have converted ,botticelli and a few other artists1 but the pagan sentiment was not dispelled4 ,for the artist of the last part of the ,x,vth century ,san ,giorgio and ,perseus were1 if not identical1 to be treated with the same artistic sentiment4 ,the real evolution1 in our opinion1 begins with ,brunelleschi and ,donatello4 ,in the year #adjd these two artists undertook a journey to ,rome4 ,for the progress of art this is a memorable date4 ,the real influence of ,greek and ,roman art on the artistic movement immediately preceding the ,renaissance begins at that date4 ,it is undeniable that even before this time mythological subjects had become familiar to both painters and sculptors1 artists preceding ,donatello and ,brunelleschi1 such as ,piero di ,giovanni ,tedesco1 ,nicolo di ,piero ,lamberti 7called il ,pela7 and even ,nanni and ,antonio di ,banco1 show slight traces of ,roman art at times--even to the way of working the marble1 as in the ornaments of the north door of the ,duomo in ,florence1 by ,giovanni ,tedesco--but they are faint and uncertain traits1 leaving one undecided whether they be attributable to ,roman influence or a mere inheritance from the ,romanesque blunt-edged way of working marble4 ,the years spent in ,rome by ,donatello and ,brunelleschi seem to have moulded the style of these two artists entirely anew1 particularly that of the former4 ,the citizens of ,rome were more or less surprised at the persistency with which the two artists endeavoured to unearth fragments of old statues1 and supposing them to be animated by a mere mercenary hope1 that of finding some treasure1 they called the two students quelli del tesoro 7treasure-seekers74 ,it is undeniably true that however profitable their search for old coins and marble relics1 their copies and study of ancient art were in their sum total more valuable than the solid gold they brought back with them to ,florence4 ,the results are plainly visible in ,brunelleschi's architecture and ,donatello's sculpture1 and the influence that their art exercised over their contemporaries and followers4 ,as we have said1 after his sojourn in ,rome1 ,donatello1 particularly1 seems to have immersed his art in a bath of past paganism4 ,his art is no fakery1 nor is it sheer plagiarism of the antique1 but it is all permeated with ,greek and ,roman reminiscences1 and comes at times so close to the ,grco-,roman art that it misleads connoisseurs4 ,speaking of ,donatello's art ,louis ,courajod1 a well-known connoisseur1 observes3 8,he entered so deeply into the spirit of antiquity1 that some of his restorations of statues are very puzzling1 and it is difficult to distinguish his handiwork from that of the original40 ,in fact the famous horse's head of the ,naples ,museum was catalogued as a ,greek bronze before it was recently attributed to ,donatello or his school4 ,no one can fail to draw a comparison between ,donatello's puttino and the 8,infant with the ,goose10 a typical example of ,grco-,roman art4 ,one of the first to be affected by the new sentiment in art was ,lorenzo ,ghiberti4 ,as a matter of fact ,ghiberti not only became enamoured of the antique1 but was seized by the passion of collecting the best antiques in marble and bronze4 ,you may be sure that collectors of this calibre1 unlike the ,roman samples1 talked very little of patina and a great deal of form1 that their enthusiasm was of a higher alloy even than that of present-day collectors1 who are rarely artists or even real lovers of art4 ,polycletus and ,lysippus were ,ghiberti's idols1 and ,greek art his worship2 for the era of ,imperial ,rome he had no enthusiasm4 ,his cult for the ,greek went so far as to induce him to reckon time by the ,olympiads in his chronology4 ,instead of telling us that a certain artist died when ,martin ,v was pope1 or in the year so and so1 ,ghiberti states amazingly that the event took place in the #dchth ,olympiad6 ,it is not surprising that an artist like ,ghiberti1 and such a lover of ,greek art as he was1 should be able to classify ,greek art at sight1 to discriminate it from dubious ,roman products and all the art that so closely resembles certain ,greek periods4 ,that the worship of pagan art was practised by artists with no risk to themselves may be explained by the circumstance that the time of religious intolerance had passed4 ,intolerance1 comprehensible perhaps in the early times of ,constantine1 when it was a crime for an artist to go to the forms of the past1 had gradually sunk into tradition by the dawn of the new era which paved the way to the ,renaissance in art and to humanistic tendencies1 the most tolerant and unprejudiced period of past civilization4 ,lovers of art in this period appear to possess a certain refinement of feeling that the ,romans did not have1 they stand more as friends to the artist1 esteem him more1 and thus their pursuit has a wider scope4 ,even ,ghiberti1 with all the restrictions placed on his taste by his infatuation for the antique1 was1 according to ,vasari who describes his collection1 no narrow specialist in the so much praised modern meaning of the word1 namely1 a collector who may be useful to the history of art and to knowledge at large1 but who does not as a rule possess a spark of love for art or artistic feeling4 ,as is often the case to-day1 the heirs of these old collectors were at times more greedy for money than a reputation for art4 ,many fine collections were scattered to the four winds1 which was also the fate meted out to ,ghiberti's collection by his relatives and heirs4 ,fortunately a few pieces of this stupendous collection have been saved3 a fine torso of a ,satyr can now be seen in the ,uffizi4 ,there are other pieces too that have come down to us1 but the finest works1 those attributed to ,polycletus1 among them a rare ornamented vase1 are now lost4 ,the new artistic feeling perpetuated itself in architecture from ,brunelleschi to ,alberti4 ,the latter built for ,malatesta what purported to be a church1 but which is in fact nothing but a temple to ,love1 which the tyrant of ,rimini erected and dedicated to the memory of his lady-love1 ,isotta ,atti4 ,the revolution in sculpture effected by ,donatello seems to be felt in ,padua and ,venice4 ,imitations of all sorts1 and probably faked antiques1 date from this time4 ,it is difficult to decide whether ,donatello's genuine pagan sentiment1 his second artistic nature1 was solely due to his passion or to a desire to accommodate the general taste for the antique2 ,italian artists are far too versatile4 ,however that may be1 he was no faker2 the art of the faker flourished when imitators had lost all artistic personality1 becoming mere craftsmen catering as usual to a momentary mania4 ,then was the time one saw ,filarete indulging in most absurd medals and portraits of dubious1 very dubious1 historical correctness2 ,riccio in ,padua fabricating and flooding the market with charming little bronzes in which the imitation is so evident that it brings up the question as to what the art of ,andrea ,briesco 7called il ,riccio7 might have been1 had he chanced to be born at another epoch4 ,vellano also alternates fine pieces of work with little bronzes that must have been in great vogue with collectors of antiques4 ,it is to be noted that the mania is not confined to ,italy1 it takes that country by storm because of its tremendous artistic activity and the fact that in art it is the foremost country of the time2 but others were affected too4 ,france is the first as being the nearest tributary to ,italian supremacy in art4 ,there are many examples of what we have said1 but perhaps one of the most eloquent is the decoration of the castle of ,gaillon1 where there are some medallions with portraits of ,roman emperors of a most mystifying character4 ,though the work of ,italians of the end of the ,quattrocento they were classified as antique 7antiqualles7 only a few years later1 at the beginning of the sixteenth century4 ,an evident proof that ,quattrocento imitations were not always directed by artistic fancy1 but rather by the love of gain by means of fraud and fakery1 is given by the fact that some of the statuettes imitating the antique were cast with broken limbs4 ,the ,ambras collection of ,vienna has one of these curious specimens--a charming figure1 a female nude4 ,this piece has evidently been cast without arms1 the clay model having been mutilated before the form was taken for the cast4 ,in the ,prado of ,madrid there is also a bronze statue of the ,renaissance1 possibly a cast from the antique1 the peculiarity of which is that the arms have been added afterwards1 as though in restoration4 ,the metal of the arms is of a different alloy and the modelling of these parts purports to be of a much later date than the rest of the statue4 ,the first pieces to show a positive character of fakery are imitations of old coins and medals4 ,then small bronzes called plaquettes1 often pastiches of antique models1 when not actually reproductions from old cameos4 ,the ,renaissance has also produced many bronze statuettes that seem to have had no other purpose than to take in the amateur--to gratify his demand for antiques by launching spurious products upon the market4 ,the artists responsible for them represent what might be styled the aristocracy of fakers2 there is nothing banal about them1 their work is generally good1 so much so that these imitations have now acquired a value per se4 ,antonio ,pollaiolo1 the ,florentine sculptor1 is one of the most charming imitators of the antique4 ,the ,flute ,player of the ,national ,museum of ,florence is perhaps one of the most convincing examples of this statement4 ,hercules and ,antus is also a remarkable work by this artist1 though the other is superior on account of its simplicity4 ,of the ,flute ,player there are copies of the same period in the ,cluny ,museum and at ,avignon4 ,curiously enough this statuette tempted even the pencil of ,raphael1 who reproduced it in a sketch-book now kept in the ,academy of ,venice4 ,as soon as he had left the goldsmith's shop1 ,andrea del ,verrocchio started the early period of his activity in his new career as a sculptor1 and made his way1 according to ,vasari1 by casting small figures in bronze4 ,we know very little of these small statuettes of ,verrocchio's1 beyond attribution1 but1 ,vasari says1 ,verrocchio was tempted to make them while in ,rome1 because he saw how appreciated were antique statuettes1 so much so that even fragments fetched fancy prices4 ,being an excellent craftsman with the chisel1 and skilled in the casting of metals1 ,verrocchio would seem to have been fully equipped for catering to the demand of the amateurs of his time4 ,vellano1 in his imitations of the antique1 seems at times to have even been tempted to counterfeit ,egyptian art4 ,his art in imitating is eclectic and most versatile4 ,illustration3 ,,imitations ,,of ,,the ,,antique4 ,by ,moderno1 ,x,v,ith ,century4 ,andrea ,briesco seems to possess the brusque touch of some antique sculptors combined with the mania of ,roman foppishness in over-draping his statuettes4 ,they are invariably arrayed in gorgeous consular armour1 elaborate togas1 imperial sandals1 and have1 as a remarkable contrast1 wild1 vulgar faces in complete disharmony with the rich decoration of the costumes4 ,however1 when this artist models horses or simple nude figures he gets closer to the originals and is evidently an excellent and dangerous imitator4 ,the bronzes of the ,paduan school that may1 with more or less certainty1 be attributed to ,riccio1 are endless and in some of them the intention of faking is evident4 ,jacopo ,sansovino1 the presumed author of the bronze statuette of ,meleager of the ,pourtales collection in ,berlin1 does not seem to take the trouble to disguise the origin of his plagium4 ,michelangelo was too great a personality as an artist and too highly gifted to be tempted to hide his genius and waste his fine energies on imitation of the antique4 ,yet the story of his ,sleeping ,cupid1 sold in ,rome as an antique1 is very instructive4 ,though well known it serves admirably to illustrate the character of the amateurs contemporary to the great sculptor4 ,the anecdote casts a certain justified suspicion that the collectors of the ,renaissance and early sixteenth century must have been duped on a larger scale than we are led to suppose from the scanty information we possess on the subject4 ,vasari informs us that ,michelangelo sculptured from a piece of marble a life-sized sleeping ,cupid1 that in this work he had imitated the antique to a surprising extent2 so much so that when the work was shown to ,lorenzo di ,pierfrancesco de' ,medici the latter advised the sculptor to send the work to ,rome and sell it as an antique1 as 8by this means he could obtain a far better price40 ,according to ,vasari1 the ,cupid1 marvellously arranged and coloured like an old piece of sculpture1 was taken to ,rome1 buried in a vineyard and then 8discovered0 and sold as an antique to ,cardinal ,san ,giorgio1 who paid #bjj ducats for the work 7a ducat was worth about #is474 ,vasari adds that the person who had acted as go-between in the affair tried to cheat ,michelangelo by saying that the ,cardinal had only paid him #cj scudi 7a scudi was worth about #ds471 and he then comments on the ,cardinal's poor taste in not giving the ,cupid due consideration after he had discovered that it was modern4 ,he says3 8,not recognizing the merit of the work1 which consists in perfection1 wherein the moderns are as good as the ancients10 the ,cardinal did not know how lucky he was to own a genuine work by ,michelangelo in the place of heaven knows what poor product of some modest master of antiquity4 ,condivi repeats the story1 which has given ample food for popular fancy and folklore1 adding that the irate ,cardinal caused the man to be arrested and1 giving him back the ,cupid1 claimed and received the sum paid for it4 ,the fact that ,michelangelo1 who went to ,rome in the year #adif1 wrote in ,july1 #adif1 to ,lorenzo di ,pierfrancesco de' ,medici that he had paid a visit to the ,cardinal di ,san ,giorgio1 shows that the prelate did not bear the artist a grudge for the joke4 ,in this letter ,michelangelo tells ,lorenzo ,medici that he has tried in vain to get the ,cupid back from ,baldassarre ,milanese1 the dealer and go-between in the affair of the ,cardinal1 but seeing that the man is obstinate in his refusal to give back the statue he has been advised to use ,cardinal ,san ,giorgio's authority4 ,condivi says that in some unknown way this statue passed into the hands of ,duke ,valentino1 and finally became the property of the ,marchioness of ,mantua1 who owned it at the time ,condivi1 the historian and ,michelangelo's pupil1 was writing4 ,after the small statuettes1 ,roman busts are a source of some excellent imitations4 ,of these works1 both in marble and bronze1 many museums possess good examples4 ,the ,uffizi ,gallery has two or three good ones2 besides these the many restored busts and statues of this same ,gallery speak of the characteristic pliability and plagiarism in art of the ,renaissance4 ,a fine bust in bronze of a hypothetical ,roman emperor1 formerly in the collection of ,baron ,davillier1 is now in the ,louvre ,museum4 ,it is evidently the work of an artist of the versatile and prolific ,paduan school4 ,this very school of ,padua1 strengthened by the advent of ,vittore ,camelio1 ,cavino1 de ,bassiano1 and other capable fakers of art--we feel we need not scruple to use the word in association with these names--is chiefly responsible for those coins1 medals and small bronzes that it would be naive to say were made solely for the sake of imitating4 ,the imitations of bas-reliefs prepared perhaps the popularity of those small bronze bas-reliefs called plaquettes which seem to have meant so much to the collector of the time4 ,we even find the angelic ,mino1 the last ,renaissance artist who should have attempted to paganize his sweetly ascetic art1 trying his hand at these marble bas-reliefs of ,roman emperors1 re-edited for the benefit of amateurs4 ,these bas-reliefs already seem to have inveigled artists into palming them off with fantastic tales1 giving them what might be called a shampoo of history4 ,in the ,brunswick ,museum there is a bas-relief in marble1 evidently aping antique art1 representing an ,aristotle in an absurd pointed headgear and with the following inscription3-- 7sic7 ,a replica of this bronze belonged to ,charles ,timbal's collection1 and is now in the possession of ,monsieur ,gustave ,dreyfus2 a third1 with an identical inscription1 is kept in the ,modena ,museum2 a fourth is in the ,correr ,museum of ,venice2 and1 finally1 a fifth sample of this fantastic ,aristotle is in the ,national ,museum1 the ,bargello of ,florence4 ,it is certain that there was a companion-piece to this ,aristotle1 the portrait of ,plato1 which has come down to us in material other than bronze1 but which must have once been the pendant of the ,aristotle1 as there are clay reproductions of both portraits1 the ,aristotle being identical to the ones already quoted4 ,of ,plato there are several bas-reliefs in marble1 one in the ,bavarian ,museum of ,munich1 another in the ,museum of ,arezzo1 and another in the ,prado4 ,in the latter museum there is also an ,aristotle in marble with its freakish head-covering1 long hair and a long beard2 of ,plato there are two marble bas-reliefs1 two medallions4 ,in the larger one there is the inscription3-- ,a curious fact to be noticed is that of these two portraits ,aristotle's must have caught public fancy more than that of his philosophical companion4 ,not only because of the numerous reproductions of the one original but because it must have been popular already in the time of ,louis ,,xii1 being reproduced in clay in a medallion of the castle of ,alluye at ,blois4 ,in this race for popularity in a foreign country and from a spurious origin1 ,plato seems to have lost nearly half a century1 as we find a reproduction in the castle of ,ecouen about the middle of the sixteenth century1 which landed finally in the ,museum of ,french ,monuments1 where ,baltard renamed it as the portrait of ,jean ,bullant4 ,no strange transition when one considers that a cast of the original ,plato was1 for quite a long time1 shown in the ,louvre as the portrait of ,philibert ,delorme4 ,the ,louvre has a queer marble medallion1 a work of the beginning of the sixteenth century1 of a ,roman ,imperator ,caldusius1 and a medallion of ,cato is now in the ,museum of ,beauvais4 ,when ,vespasiano da ,bisticci tells us that ,niccoli 8had in his house an infinite number of medals in bronze and silver and gold1 and many antique brass figures1 and many marble heads1 and other valuable things10 we can believe that they were genuine1 but when it is a question of a later collection of old marble heads1 bas-reliefs and medals1 we wonder how many an ,emperor ,caldusius it contained4 ,this curious trade in and mania for pastiche was assisted1 it must be added1 by the tremendous skill that the artists of all periods of the ,renaissance seem to have possessed in moulding1 recasting1 and composing one piece from two or three originals4 ,we know that ,verrocchio used to make plaster casts of living people1 and the custom of making bust portraits and medallions from death masks was quite common in the ,quattrocento and later4 ,such post-mortem reproductions were often ably disguised by the modelling stick1 while at other times they showed only too plainly their ghastly origin4 ,a regular riot of fakery1 combined with the most fantastic metamorphoses of ,greek and ,roman originals1 existed for the benefit of crazy numismatists1 greedy collectors of medals and amateurs with a fancy for small bronze bas-reliefs4 ,in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the imitation of coins was most varied2 some are quite excellent reproductions of the antique ones1 others again show the art and style of the artist and his period but faintly disguised4 ,some of these latter are at any rate charming works of art4 ,the coins1 medals and small bronzes seem to emphasize the ,renaissance mania for the antique4 ,now1 for instance1 after giving the portrait of ,adam1 ,eve1 ,noah and ,ham1 ,shem and ,japhet1 the ,promptuarium iconum insigniorum a seculo hominum1 published in ,lyons by ,guillaume ,reville 7#aeec71 gives other engravings purporting to be authentic portraits of various personages of antiquity4 ,as a matter of fact many of these portraits are copied from old medals that were circulating at the time1 the work of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries4 ,mr4 ,courajod1 the former curator of the ,louvre ,museum1 was able to prove this by finding some of the medals from which the portraits of the ,promptuarium iconum had been copied4 ,these portray ,antigone1 the lieutenant of ,alexander the ,great1 the king of ,phrygia1 ,lysimachus1 king of ,thrace4 ,the first1 an ,italian bronze of the fifteenth century1 is characteristic for the effort made by the artist to counterfeit the ,oriental style he may have noticed1 perhaps1 in other coins of the time4 ,but1 as we have said1 where the fancy of the faker really ran riot was in those small bronzes of various origin and still more various purpose1 nowadays called plaquettes4 ,these bronzes were sometimes cast from the form of an old cameo1 at others they imitated or aped a like origin1 and whether they may have been used as buttons1 pommels of the hilts of swords1 or simply been demanded by collectors1 they were for the most part imitations of the antique4 ,in these works the metamorphoses of the original are at times so numerous and so absurd as to puzzle the modern collector and cause him to speculate on the acumen of some of the connoisseurs of the past4 ,with some of these small bronzes the metamorphosis is not in the form but in the inscription that sometimes accompanies the plaquette1 but on other occasions the subject and the figures are considerably altered4 ,as an example of the former we may quote the supposed portrait of ,julius ,csar of the ,courajod collection4 ,in this case the plaquette bears the inscription 8,,ivllivs ,c4 4 ,,pp 4 ,,pm401 which has caused the wrong naming of this bas-relief1 for an identical plaquette1 formerly in the collection of ,mr4 ,bardini of ,florence1 seems to indicate that it must be a question of ,cicero4 ,the second inscription runs thus1 8,m4 ,,tvllivs 4,c4,p4,p4,p4,m40 ,as for the second method1 the alteration of the form and subject of a plaquette1 the fancy displayed by the makers borders upon the grotesque4 ,to begin with a mild form of metamorphosis1 let us follow the subject of ,apollo and ,marsyas in its transformation from the original cameo that was in the collection of ,lorenzo il ,magnifico and1 according to ,muntz1 is now in the ,naples ,museum1 together with many others from the same collection4 ,in this cameo the god is on the right1 playing the lyre held in his left hand1 ,marsyas to the left has his hands tied behind him1 between the two figures kneels ,olympus 7a pupil of ,marsyas7 interceding for his doomed master4 ,the supposed original in the ,naples ,museum bears but one inscription1 8,,lavr ,,med410 evidently standing for ,lorenzo ,medici1 but ,ghiberti tells us that on this cornelian 8around the said figures were antique letters spelling the name of ,nero40 ,there is nothing strange in this1 nor in the presupposition that the cameo had been ,nero's private seal1 as one knows he was fond of playing the lyre1 but what casts some doubt on the authenticity of the ,naples cornelian stone is the fact that the ,berlin ,museum possesses a bronze plaquette1 evidently a reproduction from some antique cameo1 with the inscription to which ,ghiberti alludes1 8,,nero-,,avgvstvs-,,germanicvs-,p-,m-,, tr-,p-,,imp-,,pp-40 ,the cornelian stone kept in the ,naples ,museum has no inscription and for this reason is supposed by some to be a reproduction from the original ordered by ,lorenzo ,medici4 ,the plaquette of the ,berlin collection is thought to be cast from the original ,greek cornelian stone1 though there are other reproductions in various museums1 one for instance in the ,louvre very similar to the one of ,berlin1 another in the collection of ,courajod1 with the inscription1 8,,prudentia4 ,,puritas4 ,,tertiom4 ,,qvod4 ,,ignoro40 ,mr4 ,courajod also owned two more copies of this subject1 one similar to the one of the ,louvre with the addition of a border1 the other of larger dimensions with the figure resting on a ground in the form of a crescent4 ,a bas-relief of this subject1 used as an ornament of the pommel of a sword hilt and very similar to the other plaquettes was in the ,davillier collection4 ,n4 ,schlifer and ,giovanni ,boldu 7#adeg7 treated the favourite subject with a certain plagiarism of the ,greek model4 ,in ,boldu's bas-relief ,apollo is in the usual attitude1 but the other figure has disappeared4 ,there are many other plaquettes1 with small variations1 in private collections4 ,there is also a plaquette of this subject in the ,dreyfus collection1 in which ,apollo has become a woman and ,marsyas is playing the flute4 ,evidently the subject must not only have been popular among collectors but must have caught the fancy of artists as the composition of ,apollo and ,marsyas is reproduced in a bas-relief of a fine door formerly in ,cremona and now in the ,louvre ,museum4 ,the one at ,naples is repeated almost identically in a cornelian of the ,cabinet des ,medailles1 in a portrait of a young girl1 attributed to ,botticelli1 in the ,staedel ,museum of ,frankfurt2 on the frontispiece of a work executed for ,mathias ,corvinus2 on a frontispiece of the ,sforziade1 that rare work kept in the library of the ,riccardi in ,florence2 on a majolica dish of the fifteenth century1 now in the ,correr ,museum in ,venice4 ,there is a plagiarism of this subject in a work by ,raphael in the ,vatican4 ,the following examples1 however1 are perhaps more typical of an intentional transformation1 a somewhat reversed case and an exception to the rule in this sort of faking1 namely a ,christian subject turned into a pagan one for the benefit of the fifteenth-century amateurs4 ,there still exist in ,san ,pietro in ,vincoli in ,rome1 two bas-reliefs representing two incidents in the life of the saint who has given the church its name1 one when he is arrested and put to prison1 the other when he is chained in his cell and liberated by the angels4 ,the two bas-reliefs1 wrongly attributed to ,pollaiolo1 were ordered from some ,roman artist in the year #adgg by ,sixtus ,,iv1 then a simple cardinal4 ,of each of these bas-reliefs there is a modified reproduction1 one in the ,louvre and the other in the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum1 and the modifications of both are such as to make people believe them to be pagan subjects and antique work4 ,in the reproduction kept in the ,louvre the transformation of the subject without much alteration of the work is so evident that we can see how easily old collectors were taken in by these curious pieces of truquage4 ,of a more naive1 but no less efficient character is the transformation inflicted upon the bas-relief of ,kensington4 ,here in order to transform the miraculous liberation of ,saint ,peter into the freeing of a ,roman senator it has sufficed to clip the angel's wings1 both inside the prison--the work being divided into two different moments of the action--and where the saints usher the apostle into the street4 ,illustration3 ,photo3 ,alinari ,,marsyas ,an excellent work by ,pollajolo after the antique4 ,there is no reason to disbelieve the supposition that this piece of faking was perpetrated to cater for the mania of the art lover of the time4 ,as a matter of fact the ,louvre bas-relief was considered an antique till but recently1 and that of the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum1 which entered the collection wrongly labelled as the work of ,ghiberti1 was believed1 before #ahfc1 when it was acquired by the ,museum1 to be a work of the classic ,grco-,roman period4 ,as for over three centuries they have passed as genuine work of the ,roman ,empire1 it is not reasonable to suppose that the amateurs of the time were wiser than the succeeding generations of connoisseurs who believed the work to be antique4 ,this fact is eloquently brought out in the case of the work preserved in the ,louvre1 as this bas-relief was not hidden but has quite a long and well-established pedigree4 ,among other migrations we can trace it to ,malmaison in a sort of select collection of objects coming from ,italy4 ,edme ,durand bought it as an antique and in the belief that it was antique kept it in his collection4 ,the ,louvre ,museum also bought it for an antique and for quite a long time classified it in the catalogue 7,n4 #bhj7 as an ,etruscan bronze4 ,it would take too long to trace all the transformations of small bronzes made for the benefit of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century amateurs1 the many reproductions with changes4 ,of the metamorphoses to which plaquettes were subject we can mention another curious example in which a ,crucifixion has become a ,rape of the ,sabines1 and as a case in which a popular subject has caused many reproductions1 we quote the ,palladium of the ,niccoli collection which has been reproduced by ,donatello1 ,nicolo ,florentino1 etc4 ,the statue of ,marcus ,aurelius also seems to have been a cherished subject for small statuettes from that by ,filarete given to ,piero ,medici in the year #adfe to reproductions of the seventeenth century4 ,of all the workmen of that fertile period running between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries1 ,moderno was the most active and versatile4 ,there is hardly a mythological subject that has not been treated by him4 ,his imitation of the antique is at times quite convincing1 more especially that belonging to the early period of his career4 ,later on when he enters into what might be styled his matured sixteenth-century temperament1 he seems to suffer from the same trouble as the imitators of the first third of the said century1 namely1 over-polish and mannerism1 which must in fact have been considered an improvement in imitation4 ,valerio ,belli1 a sculptor and famous cutter of precious stones and rock crystal1 was quite justified in reproducing the subject of his own carving in the small bronze bas-reliefs that now play such an important part in modern collections of plaquettes1 and which in times gone by must have been the delight also of past collectors4 ,they often bore his signature1 which speaks eloquently for the fact that there was no intention to dupe anyone4 ,there were also other artists who evidently had a hand in faking antiques4 ,they belong more or less to various schools1 but chiefly to those of ,padua and ,venice4 ,the ,paduan school is in this respect fortified by the names of ,vittore ,camelio1 ,cavino1 ,bassiano4 ,almost every bronze founder is associated with an imitator of the antique1 either a maker of statuettes1 inkstands1 perfume vases1 or plaquettes of various sizes and use4 ,thus for a second time ,italy became a gorgeous market of imitation1 very often in itself such good art as to be worthier than the art counterfeited4 ,one of the last of these imitators was ,tiziano ,aspetti1 to whom1 rightly or wrongly1 small bronzes of private collections are attributed4 ,from the ,anonimo ,morelliano one gathers that there was a period in which a gentleman could hardly afford to do without a little collection of antiques4 8,the bronze figurines are modern by various masters and are derived from the antique10 remarks this ,anonimo of ,morelli1 as though explaining that there were some collectors perfectly satisfied with this and perhaps the silent accomplices of a fine piece of faking4 ,the ,anonimo tells us that there were many such pieces in the collections of either ignorant or accommodating collectors and art lovers1 in the house of ,marco ,bonavido of ,padua1 and that of a rich merchant of the same city1 the sculptor ,alviso2 in ,venice1 in the collections of ,odoni and ,zuanno ,ram4 ,they are often mingled with genuine antiques1 which fact causes the ,anonimo1 who evidently thinks himself either a connoisseur or a well-informed chronicler1 to say here and there1 8the many bronze figurines are modern10 or 8the many medals are of modern bronze10 or 8the medals are most of them antique40 ,precious confessions1 as one can see4 ,we know but vaguely of imitations in painting1 but an assembly of such versatile artists can hardly have refrained from imitating the work of some master4 ,besides1 the very teacher at the head of a school did not seem to resent it even if a pupil signed the name of his master4 ,but as regards imitating the antique1 there were hardly any samples to imitate4 ,the grotesques of the old ,roman ruins may have suggested to more than one artist a new type of decoration2 but this plagiarism1 if it can be called so1 though not without influence on fifteenth and sixteenth-century art1 found no practical issue with fakers4 ,there is1 however1 an incident in which a piece of faking saved to ,florence a masterpiece of ,raphael4 ,it is related by ,vasari in ,andrea del ,sarto's life4 ,according to ,vasari when ,frederick ,,ii1 ,duke of ,mantua1 came to ,florence he greatly admired the portrait of ,pope ,leo ,x1 the magnificent painting now hanging in the ,gallery of the ,pitti ,palace in ,florence4 ,his admiration turned to such greedy desire of possession that when he reached ,rome he begged the then all-powerful ,clement ,,vii to procure it for him4 ,the ,pope agreed to the ,duke's request and ordered ,ottaviano ,medici1 then residing in ,florence1 to have the painting packed and sent to ,mantua to ,duke ,frederick4 ,ottaviano ,medici1 a lover of art and a ,florentine1 hating to deprive his city of such a work1 was yet not inclined to resist the wish of the ,pope and resorted to a ruse4 ,he informed the ,pope that the painting should be sent to the ,duke1 according to ,his ,holiness' orders1 as soon as the frame had been repaired4 ,the ,duke of ,mantua was also informed that the frame needed regilding and that the painting should be shipped as soon as the repairs were finished4 ,with this excuse ,ottaviano ,medici gained the necessary time and ordered from ,andrea del ,sarto an exact copy of ,raphael's work1 a copy that all experts would mistake for the original4 ,the work was done to such perfection that even ,ottaviano ,medici1 who was an art connoisseur1 could not tell the original from the copy3 the pseudo-,raphael was sent off1 the ,duke was duped and one of the finest portraits by ,raphael was saved to ,florence4 ,in ,vasari there are comments here and there which lead us to think that many others may have been duped by the versatility of the fifteenth and sixteenth-century painters4 ,we know that ,bellini's pupils finished three-quarters of some of the great ,venetian master's works1 that ,calchar imitated ,titian so closely as to be taken for the great ,vecelli1 but we do not know to what extent lovers of art of the time may have been duped4 ,as for sculpture1 we may close this study by quoting what ,vasari writes in the life of ,vellano4 8,so great is the power of counterfeiting with love and care any object1 that1 more often than not1 if the style of one of these arts of ours be well imitated by those who delight in the work of whoever it be1 the thing that imitates so closely resembles the thing imitated1 that no difference can be detected1 except by the most experienced eye40 ,of ,ghiberti1 a collector and versatile sculptor1 ,vasari tells that 8he took much pleasure in imitating the dies of ancient coins and medals40 ,which comment amply justifies the observation that the learned ,milanesi adds to the life of ,valerio ,belli1 who at times1 according to ,vasari1 forgot to add his signature1 and was extremely clever in counterfeiting antiques1 from which ability 8he derived very great benefit40 8,antique medals10 says ,milanesi1 8were very much in demand about this time1 consequently forgers and imitators abounded2 they had in fact multiplied to great numbers and fostered the art of counterfeiting to its highest perfection40 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,collectors ,,of ,,the ,,sixteenth ,,century ,collectors of the sixteenth century--,character of the time and the artist's attitude towards the antique--,cellini restores antique statues--,new ,roman masterpiece discovered in ,rome--,decadence of art--,a protest of ,raphael against daily destructions of ,roman relics--,first laws prohibiting exportation of ,roman finds --,barbaric attitude of a ,barberini--,first law against the exportation of painting masterpieces4 ,as we have already observed1 centuries in art cannot be separated like horses in stable-boxes4 ,there are periods between one change and another1 transitional times that make it impossible to fix any date whatsoever4 ,thus we may say1 without stating a date1 that the sixteenth century not only felt the benefit of the ,quattrocento for a certain time1 but was itself actually ,quattrocento for a score of years or more4 ,the men of the past had not vanished2 ,riccio1 for instance1 one of the most active imitators of the antique1 died in #aecc4 ,but when the sixteenth century began to outline its own character1 the cult of art1 art patronage and the passion for collecting fine things are seen to have taken another turn4 ,the ,cinquecento has of course magnificent patrons of art1 and almost every prince collects something or other4 ,life is still imbued with partiality for the antique4 ,lorenzino ,medici in playing ,brutus and actually killing his cousin1 ,duke ,alexander ,medici1 is reconstructing an old heroic attitude in his learned1 pagan mind2 ,filippo ,strozzi--or whoever planned his suicide--makes one think of some hero of ,plutarch when he is found dead1 apparently by his own hand1 with a line of ,virgil1 ,exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultur 7may an avenger arise from my bones71 written in his own blood at his side4 ,painting still deals with subjects from ,roman history and so does sculpture1 but artists have lost all comprehension of them1 a fact still more evident with regard to ,biblical subjects4 ,in support of this statement it is sufficient to quote the painting of ,paolo ,veronese1 now in the ,academy at ,venice1 representing ,jesus in the house of ,levi1 one of the artist's masterpieces1 in which ,christ is in the company of--,venetian gentlemen of the sixteenth century2 but if in this painting disregard for the ,oriental side of the scene is carried to an extreme1 it must be said that ,titian and ,tintoretto1 and a great many other painters of the time1 were no better4 ,this trait1 which certainly originated in the good period of the ,renaissance and which we now find in its full development1 indicates that in its more significant and ripest expression the ,cinquecento is the logical decline of a past triumph in art1 the victim1 as it were1 of tradition--of tradition and a few artistic personalities1 such as ,raphael and ,michelangelo1 who turned a new leaf in art1 awakened a new feeling1 a new overpowering school4 ,michelangelo1 especially1 with his fascinating and inimitable style draws a legion of followers1 fostering an art that during the great sculptor's life already is ripe for decadence4 ,enlightened collectors abound in this period1 their collections increase daily1 but are they really lovers of art as their predecessors were1 are they worshippers of the antique like the bygone collectors8 ,this is what we ask4 ,in the sixteenth century when art is a tradition of the far past1 on the one hand1 and on the other1 almost a tradition of the recent past1 life seems to have taken the selfsame attitude3 people are not real lovers of art1 but are so merely by tradition4 ,every well-bred gentleman of the ,cinquecento was obliged to have the air of understanding art4 ,machiavelli might have added an interesting chapter to his ,principe to demonstrate how important it was for a prince to be interested in art1 even though1 perchance1 utterly indifferent to it in reality4 ,when giving instructions in his ,cortegiano1 as to what a gentleman of his time ought to know1 ,castiglione adds that he must learn to paint4 8,even if this art affords you no pleasure10 advises ,castiglione1 8it will give you a better understanding of things1 and a clearer appreciation of the excellency of ancient and modern statues1 vases1 monuments1 medals1 cameos1 carvings1 and other such objects40 ,in a word1 ably or otherwise1 with natural disposition or not1 it was part of good breeding for a gentleman of the sixteenth century to be interested in art and play the connoisseur4 ,it is from this that the ,cinquecento suffers4 ,the patent prince-patron of art1 the stock gentleman-collector abounds1 the genuine lover of art is rare4 ,a prince's house or that of a simple person of good standing was considered incomplete if without a collection of some sort4 ,yet while the artists of the sixteenth century had certainly derived no small benefit from their predecessors' passion for the antique1 they had become far too individual1 far too engrossed in their own art to be susceptible to the art of the past4 ,michelangelo1 the artist who lived practically through both centuries1 the sculptor whose genius1 tremendous and over-individual1 was nevertheless responsible for the decadence of sculpture1 is a good example of this4 ,he can1 like many another ,italian artist1 show his versatility and skill by imitating an art other than his own1 as he did with the ,sleeping ,cupid that deceived ,cardinal ,san ,giorgio1 but when the artist is genuine and gives his own artistic temperament full play1 craft and virtuosity disappear1 reminiscence is impossible4 ,even when the subject and peculiar quality of the work suggest imitation and turn thought to the antique1 ,michelangelo remains true to his own grand soul4 ,his ,brutus exemplifies the point4 ,it was a ,roman subject of classical times1 and ,michelangelo might easily have been infected by the history of the past and the forms he had admired when interested in the excavation of ancient statues in ,rome4 ,yet his ,brutus is more ,dantesque in its tragic lines than ,roman4 ,cellini1 to illustrate another aspect1 is a different case4 ,he can repair antiquities for his patron1 ,cosimo ,medici1 fairly well1 but he1 also1 is too highly individual to make an excellent imitation of the antique4 ,he tells us that he consented to repair his illustrious patron's ,ganymede because it was a fine ,greek work1 and1 prone as he is to self-praise1 he tells how stupendously he can do it2 but he does not like such work1 he calls it arte da ,ciabattini 7cobbler-work74 ,the fact1 however1 is that he is too much alive to his time1 has too strong an expression of his own art to be skilful in imitations4 ,in fact it happened that he had to try his hand at a portrait of ,cosimo ,i1 in the guise of a ,roman emperor4 ,the portrait of the ,grand ,duke of ,tuscany will never deceive any art simpleton1 in spite of its elaborate cuirass fit for ,augustus4 ,cellini is too delightfully cinquecentesque4 ,the same may be said of him as a medallist4 ,yet in some of ,cellini's work1 especially his medals1 the idea of imitating the ,romans must have been in his mind1 and no doubt he was convinced of his success4 ,yet he belonged to the group that by their personality influenced others1 and when trying his hand at imitation quite congenial to his own artistic temperament he makes something that is at least three-quarters ,cellini4 ,these artists nevertheless admire the art of the past1 though with no danger of infection4 ,michelangelo is entranced when the ,laocon is discovered in a vineyard near the ,therm of ,titus1 and goes with his friend ,sangallo to see that the precious statue be carefully unearthed4 ,partly for the sake of gain1 and partly1 maybe1 for the love of art1 ,cellini often goes to the ,roman ,campagna to see what 8certain ,lombard yokels0 have uncovered in their daily spading of the soil4 ,raphael protests1 in a famous document addressed to ,leo ,x1 against the continual destruction of ,roman relics4 ,his words are worth repeating4 ,after declaring that the ,goths and ,vandals have not done so much damage to ,rome as his contemporaries1 ,raphael concludes by saying that far too many popes have allowed ,roman edifices to be ruined simply by permitting the excavation of pozzolana 7clay7 from the ground upon which their foundations rest1 that statues and marble ornaments are daily burned in ovens and turned into mortar1 that ,rome1 in fact--the ,rome of ,raphael's time--is built with naught but mortar made from old statues1 the sacred marbles of past glories4 ,characteristic also is the fact that this country sees the first protective laws against the exportation of antique art4 ,this would seem to indicate the consideration in which relics of past art were held in ,rome4 ,judging by the way it was applied1 however1 even this act serves to show that there was no more genuine a passion for old and precious antiques in the ,cinquecento than in the century before4 ,the ,roman laws of the sixteenth century are severe1 meting out punishments to all and sundry daring to carry the produce of excavations beyond the ,papal domains2 but otherwise destruction goes on gaily1 there seems to be no discrimination as to what ought to be saved from the doom of destruction and what is not worth keeping4 ,so while edict after edict is promulgated in order to safeguard the excavation of statues in ,rome and elsewhere1 edicts often full of old-fashioned magniloquence1 8,prohibition concerning the exportation of marble or metal statues1 figures1 antiquities and suchlike10 the best buildings in ,rome were allowed to fall into utter ruin without a protest4 ,this state of things reached the climax of absurdity in the seventeenth century when ,urban ,,viii1 of the ,barberini family1 declared the ,coliseum a public quarry1 where the citizens might go for the stones they needed for new constructions--an act still commemorated in the protest of all lovers of art with the proverbial pun1 ,quod non fecerunt barbari fecerunt ,barberini 7,what barbarians did not do1 the ,barberini did74 ,from this curious inconsistency in the appreciation of art even ,tuscany1 the cradle of the ,renaissance1 is not immune4 ,a ,medicean law intended1 like the ,roman one1 to prevent the exportation of masterpieces and rare works of art1 makes no mention of precious relics of ,roman or ,etruscan origin1 nor even of the fine pieces of sculpture that were often excavated1 but considers only the paintings of certain artists of the past school of the ,renaissance and those of other contemporary artists1 as being worth keeping1 so the law declares1 for the glory and dignity of ,florence4 ,the regulations are given in a second decree1 along with a list of the names of the artists concerned1 dead and living4 ,their work must not be taken out of ,tuscany4 ,the list is very instructive1 for it passes over some of the best artists1 such as ,botticelli1 ,credi1 the ,pollaiolos and others1 and prohibits the export of the work of artists that are either unknown to us or are of such mediocrity that it is surprising their work should have been esteemed above the average of their day4 ,the following is one of these lists1 the first that was made4 #a4 ,michelangelo ,buonarroti4 #b4 ,raffaelo da ,urbino4 #c4 ,andrea del ,sarto4 #d4 ,mecherino 7874 #e4 ,il ,rosso ,fiorentino4 #f4 ,leonardo da ,vinci4 #g4 ,il ,franciabigio4 #h4 ,perino del ,vaga4 #i4 ,jacopo da ,puntormo4 #aj4 ,tiziano4 #aa4 ,francesco ,salviati4 #ab4 ,angelo ,bronzino4 #ac4 ,daniello da ,volterra4 #ad4 ,fra ,bartolommeo di ,san ,marco 7,della ,porta74 #ae4 ,fra ,bast4 ,del ,piombo4 #af4 ,filippo di ,fra ,filippo4 #ag4 ,antonio da ,correggio4 #ah4 ,il ,parmigianino4 ,without insisting upon a comment that might appear paradoxical1 what kind of collectors of art can be expected from people who place in the same list of merit ,leonardo1 ,michelangelo1 ,titian1 with ,cecchin ,salviati1 ,perino del ,vaga1 to say nothing of the now forgotten ,mecherino1 a painter whose well-deserved oblivion saves us from judging his poor work4 ,in another list other names are added4 ,they are no less grotesque--,santi di ,tito ,ligozzi1 ,jacopo da ,empoli1 etc1 in far too good company4 ,,chapter ,x ,,collecting ,,in ,,france ,,and ,,england ,passion for collecting art travels to ,france--,the ,florentine ,republic and the fate of a statuette by ,michelangelo--,italy supplies antiques to ,france and other countries--,the fair of ,frankfurt--,a famous sale--,in ,england the passion for collecting art and curios may have originated in ,france4 ,while the passion in ,italy for collections of art still goes on enriching museums more through the impetus of the past than from a genuine cult1 and produces occasionally1 together with many illustrious patrons of contemporary art1 some old type of collector fond of the antique with the characteristic greed for all kinds of rarities1 ,france1 and later almost every other nation of ,europe1 awakens to the passion for art and curios4 ,it is no longer a question of monarchs and princes1 as was the case in ,italy1 nobles and the bourgeois as well come to the fore4 ,even at the beginning of the sixteenth century1 ,france may quote the names of ,grolier and ,robertet1 both financiers employed at ,court1 both lovers of fine things4 ,the former is a specialist in rare editions and fine bindings1 the latter a keen-eyed1 eclectic collector1 as may be gathered from the inventory of his excellent collection kept in his castle of ,bury4 ,it must be said1 however1 that ,italy still remains a sort of ,el ,dorado of fine art and the inexhaustible mine to which collectors come for their finds4 ,the ,french had discovered this fact from the time they came to ,italy with ,charles ,,viii4 ,later on ,grolier visits ,italy and takes back with him some of its treasures4 ,when he has no opportunity to come to ,italy himself1 his friends and agents continue the search for him2 they know his taste and his speciality and are very alert in the hunt for fine and rare editions4 ,robertet bargained with the ,florentine ,republic to exchange his political influence for a statuette by ,michelangelo4 ,the ,republic had great interest in remaining friends with the ,french monarch and accepted the bargain1 and as the statuette had been left unfinished by ,michelangelo1 who had moved to ,rome by this time1 ,benedetto da ,rovezzano is charged to finish the work and cast it4 ,this statuette of a ,david was placed by ,robertet in the cour d'honneur of his castle and afterwards1 in the year #afcc1 removed to the castle of ,villeroy1 and it is now lost4 ,only a design of this statue1 by the great ,michelangelo1 is now in the ,louvre ,museum1 and from this we can gather how the statue looked4 ,what was not bought was carried away from ,italy after the fashion of the old ,roman conquerors4 ,in the year #aebg a ship arrived at ,valencia loaded with artistic and valuable booty from the famous 8,sack of ,rome40 ,curiously enough1 considering the age1 the ,spanish municipal authorities of ,valencia did not grant the vessel permission to unload her cargo4 ,this fact1 quoted by ,baron ,davillier in his ,histoire des faences hispano-moresques1 is commented on by ,edmond ,bonnaff1 a ,french collector of our times1 thus3 8,i love to think that the captain changed his course and found more hospitable municipalities on the ,french coast40 ,the rich artistic booty promised by ,italy made it almost obligatory for an orthodox ,french amateur to undertake a journey to ,italy4 ,it is surprising that the ,voyages de ,montaigne en ,allemande et en ,italie1 #aehj-ha1 makes no allusion to this fad and contains very few comments on art4 ,however rich ,montaigne's work may be in valuable observations on the life of the time1 we should nevertheless have desired him to have a touch of the art lover in him1 a leaning to the artistic and beautiful1 and we would willingly have exchanged a few words with him on the art and collections of art in the ,italy of his day1 instead of his long1 detailed descriptions of his cures and his eternal search for medicinal springs1 etc4 ,an important annual meeting1 one that the true collector was likely to visit1 was the fair of ,frankfurt4 ,according to ,h4 ,estienne this must have been one of the most frequented art markets of ,europe4 ,italy1 says ,estienne1 contributed all kinds of antiques1 faiences1 old medals1 books and brocades2 ,germany furnished wrought iron and artistic prints1 ,flanders sent tapestry1 ,milan its fine arms1 ,venice goods from the ,east4 ,estienne also states that ,spain used to send to this fair ,american products1 weapons1 costumes1 shells and silver-work4 ,it was not a market exclusively for the genuine1 as copies and imitations were to be found there for the economical or the foolish1 easily duped amateur4 ,above all there were those deplorable casts from fine originals that have ever since deceived so many collectors and which so enraged the good ,palissy1 who laments the fact and stigmatizes it with the saying that it cheapens and offends sculpture1 8mespris en la sculpture cause de la meulerie40 ,this glimpse of the creation of a market of antique art and bric--bracs of high quality would not be complete without some typical sale of a famous collection4 ,among others that took place towards the end of the sixteenth century1 we may quote a notable one1 the sale of ,claude ,gouffier 78,seigneir de ,boisy10 duc de ,reannes and ,grand-cuyer de ,france71 an intelligent gentleman who1 with his mother ,hlne de ,hargest-,genlis1 is responsible for one of the finest types of ,french pottery1 the faience d',oiron4 ,besides spending considerable sums of money on the factory of this ware1 ,gouffier was such a liberal patron of art and artists that he ruined himself in the gratification of his noble passion4 ,at his death the creditors seized upon his rare collections and objets de virtu and put them up to auction4 ,this sale was not only the artistic event of the day but1 perhaps1 the most important sale of the second half of the sixteenth century4 ,all ,paris of the time seems to have been there4 ,plates1 paintings1 works of art1 bibelots1 toute la curiosit1 passed mercilessly under the hammer of the auctioneer--which by the way was not a hammer1 a usage originating in ,england1 but as a rule a barguette1 a small rod1 with which the auctioneer struck a metal bowl4 ,nothing was spared by the creditors1 even the wearing apparel and furs of the deceased were offered to the highest bidder4 ,of these1 strange to say1 the ,duke d',aumule 7,claude de ,lorrain1 third son of ,claude1 first ,duc de ,guise7 bought a second-hand manteau de cerimonie with the evident intention of wearing it at ,court4 ,by a curious coincidence1 this sale took place only twenty-five days after the tragic night of ,st4 ,bartholomew 7,september1 #ahth1 #aegb71 an event that did not prevent ,catherine de ,mdicis from appearing at the sale with her ladies-in-waiting1 to dispute with other buyers the spoils of the deceased gentleman4 ,one of the conspicuous buyers at this auction was a ,florentine living in ,paris1 ,luigi ,ghiacceti1 called by the ,frenchmen le seigneur d',adjacet or d',adjoute4 ,beside 8ung harnois d'homme d'armes complect1 grav et dorr moresque0 he bought many other things1 the portrait of ,henry ,,ii and also 8sixty pictures painted in oils40 ,this ,florentine was not only an esteemed collector of his time1 but a man of taste who had built one of the finest mansions in ,paris1 which he showed to visitors1 together with his fine museum1 8for a sou10 so says ,sauval1 the chronicler quoted above4 ,while ,france appears to have been the first country to follow ,italy in the artistic movement1 about this time1 as we have said1 all ,european nations had more or less perfected their taste and acquired the love for art collecting4 ,the ,english invasion of ,france is perhaps responsible for the awakening of this passion in ,england4 ,warton 7,hist4 of ,poetry1 ,,ii1 #bed7 is of the opinion that after the battle of ,cressy 7#acdf7 the victorious army brought home such treasures that there was not a family in ,england1 modest though it might be1 that did not own some part of the precious booty1 furniture1 furs1 silk stuffs1 tapestries1 silver and gold works1 etc41 the pillage of the ,french cities4 ,more than two centuries later1 part of this artistic booty may have come back to ,france4 ,gilles ,corrozet tells us that on the ,mgisserie1 the quay constructed by ,francis ,i1 where artistic sales usually took place1 8in the year one thousand five hundred and fifty1 in the month of ,august1 there were publicly sold in the ,mgisserie several images1 altar-pieces1 paintings and other church ornaments1 which had been brought and saved from the churches of ,england40 ,imitation and faking do not seem to find suitable patrons at this time4 ,collectors are cold and methodical1 and a well-established commerce in antiques1 an abundance of objects offered for sale1 seem to have precluded a demand for other fakes than those of the past1 and a few clumsy imitations4 ,the imitations of this period are hardly convincing4 ,restorers of the antique were without skill1 which fact plainly tells that their patrons were not excessively particular4 ,they were satisfied with a ,roman bust1 repaired by a sculptor who does not give himself the trouble to disguise his own art4 ,about the time of which we are speaking1 that is to say when the merits and demerits of the sixteenth century had delineated themselves and had reached the summit of the curve that anticipates decline1 the work of ,michelangelo1 ,raphael and a few others--if there were any others of that calibre--produced their natural effect4 ,to be a sculptor meant to copy all the defects of ,michelangelo1 to indulge in over-ripe forms1 turgid muscles and exuberance in general2 to be a painter did not mean so much servility because ,raphael's influence was less extended1 but very few escaped imitating or recalling the painting of the fine master of ,urbino1 more especially as the public was naturally attached to ,raphaelite traditions4 ,this was so much the case that not only was ,giulio ,romano accepted1 and a legion of other painters who aimed more or less successfully to imitate ,raphael1 but later the honour that should have belonged to ,raphael was given to ,sogliani simply because he had deceived the public by his craft and virtuosity1 winning the name of ,raphael reincarnated4 ,in our opinion1 part of the energy that was keenly given in olden times to the imitation of the antique was now bestowed on 8faking40 ,it is true that ,france was coming to the fore about the middle of the sixteenth century with indisputable superiority in art1 while ,italy turns to inevitable decadence4 ,france had had a 8school of ,fontainebleau0 disposed to exercise the tyranny of genius1 but ,rosso was not ,raphael1 and the ,italian influence1 though of great benefit to the ,french school1 was1 after all1 a mere passing incident in the course of art in that country4 ,yet it is surprising that even in ,france1 at a moment when the mania for collecting art was on the increase1 the collector does not seem to have been either victimized or annoyed by faking4 ,it must be said though1 with ,edmond ,bonnaff1 that 8the ,french buyers were regarded somewhat as novices1 and everyone did his best to exploit them40 ,the ,french art lover1 with all his progress and enlightenment1 was at this time naive1 and easily exploited by trickery4 ,it is easy to imagine that if faking did not become as rampant as before1 it must have been because it did not pay as formerly4 ,yet ,h4 ,estienne remarks on this subject3 8,to-day the world is full of buyers of old lumber 7antiquailles71 at whose expense many rogues are prospering4 ,for so little do they know how to distinguish the antique from the modern1 that no sooner do they hear the word which so often makes them dip their fingers into their purse1 etc40 ,by this remark1 even without other documents1 one is entitled to conclude that even at this period1 which seems to have been less given than the others to imitation and faking1 victims existed and were ready1 like the novice or the unwise to-day1 to pay fancy prices supported by a name4 ,although ranking second in the movement of art--,france1 ,england and ,germany have risen up and improved their taste1 indulging in the true patronage of art--,italy is still the inexhaustible source of antiques1 in spite of the fact that the decadence afflicting the country had destroyed the real love of art in the collector4 ,italian villas and palaces are replete with paintings1 the best often in garrets1 the bad art of the time in full honour in the important rooms4 ,the ,barocco1 with its gorgeous errors and few merits1 is about to prepare the funeral of ,italian art4 ,the seventeenth century is approaching4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,mazarin ,,as ,a ,,collector ,collectors of the seventeenth century in ,france--,louis ,,xiii --,richelieu--,mazarin and his advisers--,louis ,,xiv as an art lover--,vaillant's strange case--,sanson1 the hangman1 collecting pictures--,the second collection of ,cardinal ,mazarin --,its partial destruction through the ,cardinal's nephew--,the medailles insolentes under ,louis ,,xiv--,epigrams on collectors --,duke of ,orleans' ill-fated collection4 ,we must now give our attention to ,france as the most prominent country in all that concerns collections of art1 because the same conditions appear here that are vanishing from ,italy4 ,in the seventeenth century ,paris had a well-established market of antiquities1 authentic and spurious masterpieces1 articles of virtu1 etc42 there were also collectors of all types1 dealers and the whole assemblage of wise and foolish1 honest and dishonest1 peculiar to the commerce when it finds its proper market4 ,broadly speaking1 in the seventeenth century every ,parisian seems to have been a collector of something or other4 ,painting as a rule is given the preference4 ,it is about this time that ,italy1 however rich through the daily excavation of antique works of sculpture1 no longer seemed to suffice to the greedy demand of ,france4 ,peiresse sent his emissaries to ,mount ,athos1 ,syria and ,africa in search of finds1 ,tavernier1 ,thvenet1 ,lucas1 ,chardin and ,gallant scoured the world in quest of antiquities and rarities both for themselves and for the ,king of ,france4 ,vaillant1 one of the most efficient of these hunters1 went to the ,east1 sent by ,louis ,,xiv1 who too has joined the ring of collectors and in a kingly way played the rle of art amateur4 ,on his return journey ,vaillant was caught by pirates1 but managing to escape embarked for ,europe4 ,on the way to ,france the vessel for the second time met the corsairs4 ,they were seen in the distance and were expected to attack at any moment4 ,the ship was able to escape1 but fearing to be caught again and of losing the valuable collection of coins and medals he was bringing to ,europe1 ,vaillant swallowed twenty of the best pieces in order to save them from any possible danger of being taken4 ,this odd story1 with its consequences1 is related in detail by ,m4 ,weiss in his ,biographie ,universelle1 with such ,french frankness as to forbid any attempt at translation4 ,besides monarchs1 the princes1 noblemen and simple middle class of all conditions seemed to be collectors at this period4 ,the passion for collecting numbers names such as ,richelieu and ,mazarin1 among antiquaries1 amateurs and dealers were ,jabach and others4 ,the number and importance of art collections1 as well as of intelligent art lovers in ,france during the seventeenth century1 can be gathered from the many publications on this century4 ,they are many1 and most of the contemporary ones are quite documentary and important for the number of collectors they mention4 ,we may quote among them the ,itinerarium ,galli1 #afab1 by ,just ,zinzerling1 a ,german signing himself ,jodocus ,sincerus1 ,abraham ,golnitz's ,ulysses ,belgico-,gallico1 a work written in #afca dealing with the collections of medals and painting that the author found in ,france during his journey4 ,there is also the ,voyage pour l'instruction et la commodit tant des ,franois que des trangers1 printed in #afci and reprinted by ,verdier1 with interesting additions1 in the year #afhg4 ,john ,evelyn1 the ,english diarist1 visited ,france in the year #afdc and gave an account of many collections of art and their cabinets1 which was partially republished in the ,voyage de ,lister1 in an edition of the year #ahgh4 ,we can enumerate further the ,trait des plus belles bibliothques1 published for the first time in #afdd by ,pre ,louis-,jacob1 the librarian of ,cardinal de ,retz and of ,president ,du ,harlay2 the ,liste anonyme des curieux des diverses villes1 etc4 ,in these works thousands of names of collectors of art1 whether specialists or not1 are mentioned1 not only those residing in ,paris but in all towns of the provinces4 ,collectomania was becoming epidemic6 ,the list of seventeenth-century collectors of art has the odd honour of including the name of ,charles ,sanson1 the hangman of ,paris1 and great-grandfather of the celebrated ,sanson1 the executioner of the hautes uvres at the time of the ,french ,revolution4 ,according to information given by ,grammont1 who related to the ,french king his adventure with ,sanson1 the man who had been nominated public executioner in ,paris by a decision of ,parliament dated ,august #aath1 #afhh1 possibly the first ,sanson to enter the undesirable profession1 this man was not only a collector of paintings but also a specialist2 and logically so4 ,grammont relates how he was one day hunting for paintings at the fair of ,saint ,germain1 when he came across ,sanson with ,forest1 a painter and art dealer4 ,the hangman was haggling over the price of a few works he wished to add to his collection4 ,one of the canvasses represented a wife mercilessly scourging her husband1 another was the portrait of ,m4 ,tardieu1 the deceased 8,lieutenant ,criminel10 a man ,sanson had known very well and to whom he owed a certain gratitude1 because1 as he remarked to ,grammont1 when living he had made him hang and torture so many people that his skill and efficiency were gained through the work done in ,m4 ,tardieu's time4 ,a third painting he finally decided to buy represented ,japanese torturing several missionaries to death4 ,he candidly declared that 8spectacles of this kind appeared charming to him0 and that he intended to hang the painting in his bedroom4 ,a characteristic of the latter part of the seventeenth century is not only the many sales of collections of art in ,france1 ,england and elsewhere1 but the appearance for the first time of printed catalogues1 prepared either for the sale or as a simple illustrative document of certain collections4 ,the first printed catalogue of ,france bears the title1 ,roole des medailles et autre antiquitez du cabinet de ,monsieur ,duperier1 gentilhomme d',aix1 and after this many collectors follow the example4 ,even the learned ,marolles is tempted to give to the public his ,catalogue de livres d'estampes et de figures de taille douce4 ,to complete the characteristics of the revived market of antiques and articles of virtu in ,france1 now exuberant in its various expressions1 we may note the advent of the so-called amateur marchand4 ,the 8private dealer10 a gentleman with a collection who deals secretly in antiques and at the same time plays the grand seigneur scorning commerce1 has been perfected since1 and the modern one is perhaps more intelligent1 shrewder1 more the grand seigneur1 but less frank and far more dangerous4 ,it may be said1 by the way1 that the art critic has not yet put in an appearance as a disguised dealer1 the wardrobe of the ambiguous trade not having yet supplied the mask4 ,there was no representative at this time of the type of ,pietro ,aretino--why not call him one of this species--who in the sixteenth century extolled paintings for artists in exchange for paintings and sold his literary eulogies to princes and monarchs4 ,one of the most characteristic collectors of the epoch is1 perhaps1 ,mazarin1 a merchant and intriguer on the one side1 and on the other a passionate collector and an epic type of the lover of art4 ,a brief sketch of his life and of the vicissitudes of his collections of art are worth giving4 ,mazarin1 in a way1 so thoroughly impersonates his time1 that to portray him as a collector helps to throw light on the milieu in which he lived4 ,history handed ,mazarin down to us as a politician and capital intriguer1 etc41 but only few know of him as a lover of art4 ,as a collector ,mazarin recalls the shrewdest kind of the old ,roman type4 ,the times are changed and the old ways of ,sulla and ,mark ,antony no longer possible4 ,violence and proscription lists would not be tolerated1 but without the extreme methods of a ,roman proconsul1 ,mazarin possesses the cunning of a ,verres4 ,like the latter he also finds things by instinct and has the unbounded passion of a true collector4 ,we are uncertain at times whether ,mazarin1 who was without doubt one of the most appreciative collectors of his day1 possessed that rare sixth sense that goes under the name of the collector's touch1 but he was nevertheless a man of taste and an art lover of unusual promptitude in the use of the ability of others4 ,like many a genuine and greedy collector of ,roman times1 ,mazarin was persistent and obdurate in the carrying through of the most complex and discouraging plans in order to secure objects for his collection4 ,in ,rome once he saw a painting of ,correggio1 the ,sposalizio4 ,it belonged to ,cardinal ,barberini1 who had made up his mind never to part with the masterpiece4 ,to become possessed of it ,mazarin made use of a ruse4 ,he asked ,anne of ,austria to demand the painting from ,cardinal ,barberini1 knowing that stubborn as the ,cardinal might be he would not refuse a favour to the ,queen of ,france4 ,in fact1 ,barberini came to ,paris himself to present the painting to ,anne of ,austria4 ,the epilogue of this mazarinade is related by ,brienne as follows3 8,to do proper honour to the gift1 the ,queen hung the picture in her bedroom in the presence of ,cardinal ,barberini1 but hardly had he left 7il n'eut pas le dos tourn7 than she took the painting and gave it to ,mazarin40 ,brienne ends his account with the observation that ,mazarin 8had conducted this lengthy intrigue to get possession of a picture40 ,considering that intriguing was second nature with ,mazarin we must say that ,correggio's ,sposalizio was worth the trouble of such a mazarinade4 ,as a collector of art1 bric--brac and precious things generally1 ,cardinal ,mazarin had an unusually lucky career4 ,contrary to the rule that exacts a very high price for experience in collecting1 ,mazarin seems to have been favoured by fortune from the very first2 as for scruples1 if they are known to a few connoisseurs he knew none4 ,he was scarcely known4 ,his profession--if his occupation may be so called--was to move between ,rome and ,paris1 to play to a certain extent the part of a courier between the two cities1 the navette 7weaver's shuttle7 between the ,roman ,state and its intriguers in ,paris4 ,during this period of his life ,mazarin used to land in the ,french capital at the house of the ,chavignys1 where he often arrived 8covered all over with dirt0 7tout crott74 ,passing ,monferrato on one of his journeys he bought a rosary1 the beads of which were supposed to be glass1 but were in fact precious stones1 emeralds1 sapphires1 rubies and diamonds4 ,the rosary ,mazarin bought for a mere song was sold in ,paris for ten thousand ducats4 ,his reputation as an excellent bric--brac hunter1 with a fine eye for works of art1 reached ,richelieu and this secured to ,mazarin the protection of the omnipotent ,cardinal2 the rest is known4 ,mazarin really remained a 8private dealer0 all his life1 a fact that his opponents could not forget4 ,more than one mazarinade alludes to the ,cardinal's dealings4 ,even when writing to potentates or diplomats on the most important political schemes1 ,mazarin never lost sight of his hobby4 ,in his letter to ,cardinal ,grimaldi on the importance of watching our 8affairs in ,italy0 he reminds him1 by the way1 to be on the look out for good books and good paintings1 etc4 ,through a well-organized network of agents and political friends he received objects for his collection almost daily4 ,chiefly from ,rome1 ,florence and other cities of ,italy1 statues1 paintings1 furniture arrived in a continual stream at the ,cardinal's palace4 ,his library numbered twelve thousand volumes in a very short time4 ,the ,fronde1 however1 is no longer satisfied with gibing the ,cardinal with mazarinades on his buying of books without being able to read them4 ,his opponents1 antagonistic to the ,cardinal's policy1 finally rose up boldly against him4 ,mazarin was obliged to fly from ,paris4 ,by a decree of ,parliament his goods were seized and sold4 ,whatever criticism may be passed on the ,cardinal's shady policy1 the destruction of his collection and library is an unpardonable sin and an artistic loss4 ,mazarin does not seem to have been discouraged by this unexpected contretemps4 ,learning that ,jabach was going to ,london to be present at the sale of the collection of ,charles ,i1 he asked him to buy paintings for him1 and through this friend was able to secure for a new gallery the ,venus by ,titian1 the ,antiope and the ,marsyas by ,correggio1 the ,deluge by ,carracci1 as well as tapestries of inestimable value4 ,two years later ,mazarin triumphantly entered ,paris again1 was reinstated in his former power1 and started a new library1 while reconstituting his dispersed gallery2 and when he died his collection contained1 according to an inventory of the year #affa1 #edf pictures1 of which #bhc were of the ,italian school1 #gg ,german or ,dutch1 #gg ,french and #aji of various schools4 ,the ,italian school included names such as ,raphael1 ,titian1 ,correggio1 ,tintoretto1 ,solario1 ,guido ,reni1 the ,carracci1 ,domenichino1 ,bassano1 ,albani1 etc4 ,many of these works are now in the ,louvre ,museum and nearly all his statues1 #cej in number1 have also passed to the ,louvre and are now kept in the ,galrie des ,antiques4 ,the inventory also informs us that the ,cardinal left twenty-one cabinets1 some in ebony1 others veneered with tortoise-shell and ivory1 and a large quantity of marble tables and ,venetian glass1 chandeliers in rock crystal1 and irons in silver or gilded4 ,the precious stones were valued at #chg1jad francs1 the silver of the chapel at #be1iie1 the plates in silver1 gold or gilded 7#gfa pieces7 at #cdg1igb1 etc4 ,the same inventory also notes #daa fine pieces of tapestry estimated at #fcb1jjj1 perhaps what a single piece of the best would cost nowadays1 but an enormous sum considering the time4 ,there were also #df ,persian rugs of unusual length1 #ba complete 8ameublements0 in velvet1 satin1 gold embroidered silk1 etc4 ,the library included #ej1jjj volumes and #djj manuscripts4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,the ,,spinario4 ,a cherished ,roman subject of the imitators of the ,x,vth and ,x,v,ith ,centuries4 ,several museums have similar imitations4 ,there is a fine original in ,naples ,museum4 ,brienne1 who was a collector himself on a smaller scale1 and who filled at the time the position of secretary to the ,cardinal1 relates with a certain pathos the last moments of this frantic art collector1 and how during his last illness he grieved to leave his cherished masterpieces4 8,i was walking10 says ,brienne1 8in the small gallery in which is the woollen tapestry representing ,scipio--the ,cardinal did not possess a finer one4 ,by the noise of his slippers ,i heard him coming1 shuffling along like a suffering man or a convalescent4 ,i hid myself behind the tapestry and heard him say1 #8,i must leave all this6' ,being very weak he stopped at every step1 leaning first to one side and then to the other2 gazing at the various objects of his collection1 and in a voice that came from his heart1 he kept on repeating #8,i must leave all this6' ,then turning his head to another side--#8and also that6 ,what trouble ,i had to buy all these things4 ,how can ,i leave them without regret8--,i shall not be able to see them where ,i am going4' ,i gave a sigh1 ,i could not help it1 and he heard me4 #8,who is there8' #8,it is ,i1 ,monseigneur----' #8,come here1' he said to me in a doleful tone4 ,he was nude1 only covered with his robe de chambre de camelot lined with petit-gris4 ,he said1 #8,give me your hand1 ,i am so weak2 ,i can hardly bear it----' ,then returning to his first idea1 #8,do you see1 my friend1 that fine painting by ,correggio1 that ,venus by ,titian and that incomparable ,deluge by ,carracci--,i know that you too love and understand painting4 ,alas1 my dear friend1 ,i must leave all this4 ,good-bye1 dear paintings that ,i have loved so much1 that have cost me so high a price6'0 7,brienne1 ,memoires1 ,,ii1 ,,xiv74 ,these three paintings1 ,correggio's ,sposalizio1 ,titian's ,venus1 and ,carracci's work1 are now in the ,louvre ,museum4 8,que j'ai tant aims et qui m'ont tant cout60 ,the second part of the sad exclamation would indeed seem to belong to this shrewd adventurer1 but those not knowing to what lengths the passion for collecting can go1 would hardly imagine that a man of ,mazarin's temperament could love1 really love1 anything on earth but power and intrigue4 ,as a most remarkable contrast to this passionate love for beautiful things1 ,destiny ordained that the greater part of the ,cardinal's statues and paintings should fall into the hands of his nephew and heir1 ,armand-,charles de la ,porte1 ,duc de la ,meilleraye1 the husband of ,mazarin's niece1 ,hortense ,mancini4 ,this nephew1 who on becoming the ,cardinal's heir was allowed to take his uncle's name and titles1 was bigoted to the last degree4 ,idiotically deprived of all artistic sense he thought it his duty to destroy the art collection1 to purge the world of the offence offered to morality by nude sculpture1 to rid society of the ,cardinal's paintings with their shocking mythological subjects4 ,saint-,evremont relates how this fanatic iconoclast left his mansion at ,vincennes one day with the deliberate intention to destroy the fine gallery left to him by the ,cardinal1 and how on his arrival in ,paris he entered the place where it was kept and taking a hammer out of a mason's hand proceeded to smash statue after statue and destroy paintings4 ,but the statues and works of art were altogether too many to be destroyed single-handed1 so he armed half a dozen servants with hammers and ordered them to help him in his artistic hecatomb4 ,it was indeed fortunate that upon the ,cardinal's death ,louis ,,xiv made up his mind to buy some of the best paintings1 and that some of the statues had also been taken away from this strange curator of ,mazarin's museum1 or there would be very little left to-day of one of the most famous collections of ,paris4 ,some of the statues now in the ,louvre still show this fanatic nobleman's abuse of the hammer1 more especially the one bearing the title 8,le ,gnie du repos eternel40 ,the monarchs of this time bought paintings1 statues and fine things1 sharing enthusiasm with private citizens4 ,however1 they played their part well and the attitude of the art lover gave them a finishing touch4 ,yet in less dangerous and despotic an age the pen of a ,molire might have tried its caustic ability on some of these types4 ,louis ,,xiii is1 after all1 but a mild art lover1 at least so he appears by the side of ,marie de ,mdicis who learned the part of ,mcenas at the court of ,tuscany4 ,he collects arms and had a cabinet of choice weapons1 among other curios1 his grosse ,vitri1 a carbine of rare merit left him by ,vitri4 ,we know of this collection of ,louis ,,xiii because it is recorded that when ,concini1 the ,florentine intriguer whom ,marie de ,mdicis had created ,marchal d',ancre1 was killed in the court of the ,louvre1 8the king1 who was in his cabinet des armes1 heard the noise of the pistols40 ,anne of ,austria1 his wife1 one of the few women to detest roses and who could not even bear to see this magnificent ,queen of ,flowers painted in a picture1 had a passion for fine book-bindings1 and ,monsieur ,gaston d',orlans sported medals and also rare books4 ,as for ,louis ,,xiv1 the best-staged king of his time1 he was apparently ready to buy anything that would add magnificence to his court and be in keeping with his rle of ,roi ,soleil4 ,notwithstanding his more or less decorative magnificence1 however1 this monarch was at times a hard bargainer1 and like ,isabella d',este1 knew how to take advantage of needy or impecunious clients4 ,his transactions with ,jabach to buy from him the finest art collection in ,france are scandalous1 nor can these transactions be solely attributed to ,colbert1 who was for a long time the go-between in this affair4 ,jabach was a ,german by birth and ,parisian by election1 a rich banker1 the director of the ,compagnie des ,indes ,orientales1 intelligent and a most passioned art collector4 ,with great care and expense he had formed the finest collection of his time4 ,later1 through business reverses1 his unbounded liberality to artists and the extravagant prices he paid for his masterpieces1 ,jabach finally found himself forced to part with his collection1 and entered into negotiations with ,louis ,,xiv who knew its immense value4 ,dealings dragged on for a long time1 and every day ,jabach was more pressed by his creditors4 ,notwithstanding his necessitous condition he rebelled at the absurd price offered and wrote to ,colbert to beg the king to treat him 8as a ,christian1 and not as a ,moor40 ,finally ,louis ,,xiv1 the ,roi ,soleil1 though in this affair a planet certainly that did not shine in generosity1 gained his point and for the absurdly paltry sum of #bjj1jjj livres became the owner of the renowned ,jabach collection1 composed of no fewer than #aja paintings1 a great many of them masterpieces1 and #eedb drawings4 ,it is sufficient to say that in this ,jabach collection were works by ,leonardo da ,vinci1 the ,saint ,john1 the 8,concert champtre0 by ,giorgione--one of the few authentic works of this master--the ,entombment of ,christ1 the ,pilgrims of ,emmaus and the ,mistress of ,titian by ,titian1 all of which now belong to the ,louvre ,museum4 ,with a king who played the connoisseur and collected objects of art and virtu1 no gentleman of the ,french court would acknowledge indifference towards art1 or be without a certain hobby of his own1 collecting some one thing in particular1 being in fact what is generally defined as a specialist4 ,speaking of 8,la ,mode0 in his ,les ,charactres1 ,la ,bruyre lashes the collecting craze of his time without mercy4 ,his ,chapter ,,xiii treats of fads and fashions1 and in it he tells of the ridiculous freaks of collectors and cleverly points out how utterly deprived of genuine meaning were the artistic pursuits of such amateurs4 ,nevertheless1 with its good sides and its bad1 the epidemic spread1 and not only in ,france1 but in other countries as well4 ,we will1 however1 confine our study of this epoch to ,france as for the purposes of this brief rsum of the collecting craze ,france was ahead of the other countries1 and thus by the side of the wise and genuine lover of art1 possessed all the other degrees of ,collectomania4 ,though conforming to fashion1 every one has his own views on the matter1 so that there are dreamers and speculators on all kinds of antiques1 but painting is given the preference4 8,pictures are bullion10 writes the fat ,coulanges to his cold-blooded and well-behaved cousin1 ,mme4 de ,svign1 8you can sell them at twice their price whenever you like40 ,in fact during one of his journeys to ,italy1 ,coulanges1 who had caught the collecting fever1 made a considerable sum of money in buying and selling pictures1 so much money that it spoilt his taste for1 as a chroniclist says1 8,the treasure1 which he saw piled up at the ,hotel de ,guise awoke in him more expensive tastes40 ,his wife1 ,marie-,angelique du ,gue-,bagnol1 collected rarets curieuses4 ,mme4 de ,svign tells us of her delight when she saw in her cousin's house a looking-glass that had been owned by ,queen ,marguerite4 ,at this epoch the art and curio market comprised all sorts of odd characters and1 as might be expected1 the subject gave ample food to writers and chroniclers for skits4 ,la ,bruyre is not alone in making sport of the obsessed art collector and crazy curio-hunter4 ,from ,molire to the ,italian ,goldoni the antiquary and his victim are capital subjects4 ,poetry also contributes its sarcasm4 ,in ,france some of the minor and justly obscure poets are very useful in the reconstruction of our milieu4 ,there are even chronicles written in verse4 ,for instance1 ,marie-,thrse1 the wife of ,louis ,,xiv1 goes to see ,caterine ,henriette ,bellier de ,beauvais1 the first lady of the bedchamber of the queen dowager ,anne of ,austria1 a lady who is evidently collecting art4 ,the poetical chronicle at once informs the public that3-- ,mercredi1 notre auguste ,reine ,fut chez madame de ,beauvais ,pour de son aimable palais ,voir les merveilles tonnantes ,et rarets surprenantes4444 ,we will spare the reader the description of the collection given in a sort of litany of praise1 a sequence of lines like the following3-- ,tant de belles orfevreries ,tant d'clatantes pierreries 99 99 99 99 99 ,tant de vases si prcieux1 ,tant de bustes et tant d'images1 etc4 ,le ,maisel ,prieur des ,roches is crazy for books1 and like a true bibliomaniac he never reads his books1 which are generally bought for the title1 etc4 ,this of course is more than enough for his introduction into one of these rhyming chronicles1 called ,rymaille3-- ,les livres ,des ,roches en belle couverture1 ,mais leur ,maistre n'en donne ,science ny ,lecture4 ,paintings being given the preference1 they are also the cherished subject for verse4 ,impassioned specialists who collect the works of a single artist and spend a lifetime in doing it are a capital subject4 ,there is also an ,arcadia among art collectors1 worthy of the eighteenth century1 a regular ,arcadia with pseudo-names1 etc4 ,one of these rhymed chronicles records the various names assumed by the collectors and amateurs of the ,arcadia4 ,as we have said1 many of these collectors of paintings are specialists possessed of the hobby of collecting the works of a single master4 ,poussin is at one time the most fashionable1 and while the ,poussinists are among the most impassioned in proclaiming the merits of their artist1 there are also other 8ists40 ,gamarre1 ,sieur de ,creze1 lieutenant des chasses1 is apparently at the head of the ,poussinists4 ,his ,arcadian name is ,pantolme4 ,the widow of ,lescot--the jeweller who was one of ,mazarin's advisers and was sent by the ,cardinal to ,spain in search of fine things--collects paintings1 but happens to be a ,rubenist4 ,however1 in due time she is converted by ,pantolme 7,gamarre7 to the ,poussinist persuasion and deserts the ,flemish art of ,rubens and starts a new collection as a ,poussinist4 ,she is called ,irene in the ,banquet des ,curieux4 ,it would take long to go over all the pleasantries of the curio-hunters of this time4 ,bizot1 named ,lubin in the ,banquet des ,curieux1 is a type of collector we have already introduced3-- ,lubin1 amateur d'antiquailles1 ,de livres anciens et de vielles mdailles1 ,philosophe sans jugement1 ,curieux sans raisonnement1444 99 99 99 99 99 ,other odd characters have escaped record in rhyme4 ,a ,sieur ,basin de ,limeville of ,blois is a well-known collector of medals4 ,he spent his whole life in buying nothing but medals4 ,yet no one ever saw his collection2 as soon as they were bought the medals were put away in his cabinet1 declares an informant of the time4 ,his cabinet is provided with an iron door and a lock with a key of most complex make4 ,at his death the heir tried to open the door but the key refused to open1 there being some special handling beside the difficulty of the lock4 ,the man who had made the key was dead and the case was so hopeless that the heir was forced to enter ,sieur de ,limeville's cabinet through an opening in the wall4 ,inside the cabinet there was found among a mass of cobwebs a dirty sack filled with the precious medals1 the collection to which the deceased had given his whole life4 ,la ,bruyre tells of a man who spent all his years hunting for a bad etching of ,callot4 ,he knew the work was the poorest ever done by the artist1 that it was not worth the trouble1 but he nevertheless gave his whole time and activity to the search for that etching because it was the only work of ,callot that he did not possess4 ,jacob ,spoon1 a doctor of medicine and an intelligent but odd individual who died in the year #afhe1 declares that in his native city of ,lyons every one is collecting something or other4 ,then1 and perhaps as a physician he was in a position to know1 he says that collecting is a disease1 contagious though not fatal4 ,there is no need of special documents to say that faking must have worked with a certain ease in such a world4 ,brienne tells us that when ,cardinal ,mazarin received objects from ,italy1 ,jabach and ,magnard were charged to examine them and very often more than one piece of faking was discovered1 very successful counterfeits 7,memoires de ,brienne1 ,chap4 ,,ix74 ,there is no instance to my knowledge of any sentence passed by tribunal upon fakers at this time when everything seems to have been decided by the almighty1 power of ,louis ,,xiv or the ever-ready ,parliament4 ,yet the police of ,louis ,,xiv seem to have one interest in the collecting of art4 ,they must watch that the books1 prints and paintings1 etc41 offered for sale contain nothing immoral or what we should call nowadays subversive4 ,by this duty the police of ,louis ,,xiv become specialists1 going in chiefly for medals4 ,in the year #afif ,pontchartrain wrote to ,m4 de la ,reynie 8to send a man to watch the sale of ,abb ,bizot and be on the look out for the mdailles insolentes of the said cabinet40 ,after other injunctions1 he then adds3 8,it is ,his ,majesty's wish that the medals incurring suppression should be put into a sack1 this to be sealed and taken to the mint44440 ,it is clear from this that over and above interest in bad coins and faked medals the police of the ,roi ,soleil were on the look out for a particular historical coin bearing some unfriendly allusion to the ,king of ,france1 and their earnest efforts to suppress it had naturally made it so rare that it kindled the ambition of numismatists and collectors at large4 ,the eighteenth century might be called the period of sales of art collections4 ,everywhere auctions were held of well-known collections2 in ,holland alone we can register #ahe catalogues of art sales from #agjj to #agej4 ,this may be called a sort of record1 however1 as ,france in the same period of time counts only thirty catalogues4 ,following the art sales in ,paris we find that from #agea to #agfj an average of four sale catalogues a year is reached4 ,from #agfa to #aggj the average increases to thirteen2 from #agga to #agge to twenty-eight1 and from #aggf to #aghe to forty-two each year4 ,this is the climax2 at this point art sales were social functions and the auction room a place where society met4 ,collections are dispersed and new ones formed1 and the transference of masterpieces from one collection to another through the auction room acquires unusual rapidity4 ,such a state of affairs inspires ,thibaudeau with the following reflection4 7,thibaudeau4 ,prface du ,trsor de la ,curiosit47 8,it is like a game of shuttlecock in which the bourgeoisie and nobility throw masterpieces to each other and with such swiftness that one really does not know to whom they belong40 ,the eighteenth century1 from the very beginning1 numbers collectors such as ,crozat1 who had a palace in ,rue ,richelieu and a collection of #ai1jjj drawings1 #djj paintings and #adjj cameos1 etc41 ,comtesse de ,verrue and ,baudelet4 ,the ,duke of ,orleans' gallery includes #dgh paintings1 of which three were by ,leonardo da ,vinci1 #ae by ,raphael1 #ca by ,titian1 #ai by ,paul ,veronese1 #aj by ,correggio1 #ab by ,poussin1 and many others of the ,dutch1 ,spanish and other schools4 ,this collection of the ,duke of ,orleans1 one of the finest in ,france after that of ,cardinal ,mazarin1 seems to have been pursued by the same ill-luck as the latter4 ,the ,regent's son1 with deplorable prudery1 destroyed all the paintings with nude figures2 as for the rest of the collection1 it was sold later to some ,english amateurs by ,philippe-,egalit4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,some ,,notable ,,french ,,collectors ,speculation1 financial disasters--,many collections change hands-- ,fakers busy for newly-enriched collectors--,voltaire plays the silent partner to art and curio dealers--,wonderful unearthings of ,dr4 ,huber--,collectors of the time3 ,mme4 ,pompadour1 ,cardinal ,soubise1 ,malesherbes and others--,interspace of the ,revolution --,napoleon revives some of the speedy methods of the ,romans-- ,italian museums and galleries plundered by his ,imperial agents4 ,from this early period we enter that of the art sales1 which1 as we have already said1 seem characteristic of the eighteenth century4 ,financial disasters and speculations disperse more than one fortune and usher new-comers into the world of finance4 ,this is the time when masterpieces begin to change hands so rapidly4 ,the spirit of collecting is superceded by that of commerce1 and faking appears under new forms1 those with no other trickery beyond what commerce with its intrigue and deceit can supply4 8,all amateurs10 writes a contemporary in the ,chronique ,scandaleuse1 8are now mixed up with brocantage 7bric--brac74 ,there is not a collector who does not sell or exchange 7troque71 either on account of unstable taste1 or for the sake of gain1 or to retaliate his own bad bargain upon some one greener than himself40 ,even ,voltaire1 between an epigram and a satire1 found himself implicated in brocantage1 only1 more shrewd than ,cicero1 he saved appearances by an associate1 the ,abb ,moussinot1 he remaining the sleeping partner4 ,voltaire's name and his banter over natural history and explanations of geological phenomena--,buffon1 the author of a ,natural ,history that ,voltaire called 8not at all natural10 was one of his victims1 he having replied to ,buffon's learned hypothesis with regard to some sea-shells found on the summit of the ,alps that the shells might have been lost by pilgrims on their way to ,rome--recalls to our mind an eighteenth-century successful piece of faking and practical joke played on an erudite collector1 ,dr4 ,louis ,huber of ,wrtzburg4 ,in the year #agbg two doctors of the town prepared a surprise for ,huber1 a surprise by which his collection of fossils was to be enriched by some extraordinary specimens4 ,speculating on the enthusiasm and good faith of the learned doctor and impassioned collector1 the two accomplices fabricated fossils of fantastic animals and the most impossible shells4 ,the imitations were generally modelled in clay with the addition of a hardening substance4 ,incredible as it may sound1 some of them represented ants and bees of the most heroic proportions1 crabs of new line and shape1 etc4 ,these were carefully buried in ground of suitable character where ,prof4 ,huber had been seen to excavate4 ,the rest is easily divined4 ,what is not easy to understand1 however1 is the fact that after having made several of these most incredible discoveries ,dr4 ,huber thought fit to publish a work1 consisting of a hundred folios1 written in ,latin and issued under the auspices of ,professor ,branger4 ,the book1 which was dedicated to the ,bishop of ,franconia1 had twenty-two illustrations reproducing with extreme exactitude ,dr4 ,louis ,huber's fantastic antediluvian find4 ,but this is not all4 ,the learned ,faculty of ,science of ,wrtzburg assembled to honour ,dr4 ,huber and the doyen of the ,faculty pronounced a speech in praise of his discovery4 ,what followed can be easily deduced4 ,only his good faith saved the deceived collector from the sore experiences of a modern sham discoverer of the ,north ,pole4 ,the curio world1 however1 still counts some good art lovers and serious collectors1 such as ,gersaint1 ,basant1 whom the ,duc de ,choiseul used to call le marechal de ,saxe de la curiosit on account of his daring and successful inroads on the art market1 where1 by the way1 though no blood is shed no less strategy is needed than on the battlefield4 ,there are other names worth quoting in this century of decadence1 ,gloomy and his friend ,remy1 painter and dealer in pictures and other curios1 ,julliot1 ,langlier1 ,paillet1 ,regnault-,delalande1 ,pierre ,lebrun and his son1 ,j4 ,b4 ,lebrun1 who married the famous artist ,mlle4 ,vige1 and owned the well-known ,salle ,lebrun1 often used for celebrated sales4 ,other names might be quoted1 ,la ,marquise de ,pompadour1 ,cardinal ,soubise1 ,girardot de ,prefond1 ,fontette1 ,malesherbes1 ,marquis de ,paulmy1 etc4--then1 the ,revolution comes1 the ancien rgime disappears and with it the dainty furniture1 foppish dress1 and the supremacy of an art market which with all its oddities were such perhaps as had never been seen since the time of the orgy of curio-hunting of ,ancient ,rome4 ,this supremacy1 deprived of many of its idiosyncrasies1 temporarily crossed the ,channel and went to ,england accompanied by many of the treasures that dealers and refugees managed to save from the cataclysm of #aggi4 ,napoleon may be quoted as an exceptional art collector--if ever such a name can belong to a man utterly deprived of a sense of art but shrewd enough to understand the mighty support given to sovereigns by art--for in the process of time the man formed more than one art collection by methods that in their drastic character greatly resembled those adopted by ,roman generals and proconsuls4 ,this statement is eloquently supported by facts and numbers4 ,here is a laconic writing of ,napoleon in which he informs the ,directory of his first artistic 8finds0 in ,italy4 ,speaking of his agents1 he states3 8,they have already seized3 fifteen paintings from ,parma1 twenty from ,modena1 twenty-five from ,milan1 forty from ,bologna1 ten from ,ferrara40 ,this is1 of course1 his first experiment as a novice collector4 ,other things were to follow1 the ,medici ,venus from ,florence1 the ,roman ,horses from ,venice1 and all the best works of art from the ,italian museums1 and these but foster more eclectic desires in this strange art lover1 who while preoccupied with the problem of transporting heavy statues from ,rome and harvesting antiques and ,renaissance work1 indiscriminately orders to be taken to ,france with the artistic booty the votive pen that ,justus ,lipsius left to the sanctuary of ,loretto and the votive image left by ,montaigne to the same sanctuary4 ,the anecdote of ,lucius ,mummius of ignorant memory is here repeated in a way1 for the officials acting under ,napoleon's orders have nothing to say about ,montaigne's ex-voto1 but when it comes to the pen of ,lipsius these worthies gleefully remark3 8,la plume de ,juste ,lipse qui avoit t estime cinq huitimes1 c'est trouve peser six huitimes0 7the pen of ,juste ,lipse which was supposed to weigh five-eighths1 has been found to weigh six-eighths74 ,from the ,revolution to the time of ,napoleon's dominion is the period in which the passion for art collecting is least felt4 ,faking1 of course1 is an art that does not pay and thus has no raison d'tre4 ,yet faking passes from the field of art to that of real life1 the new ,republic apes ,roman customs4 ,david the artist is faked into a ,tribune while busy painting ,romans that seem to have been brought out of a hot-house and he sketches semi-,roman costumes for the new officials of the ,republic1 garments that with all the foppishness of the 8old regime0 had ,roman ,consular swords1 ,imperial chlamys 7mantle71 faked buskins or ornamented cothurnus 7boots worn by tragedians74 ,it is this faking of life that feels the need even to alter the calendar1 changing the ,roman etymology of the names of the months into more resounding ,latinesque appellations4 ,at home in this staged drama of life1 ,napoleon1 the friend of ,talma and ,david1 continues the grandiose faking with a sort of complex etiquette and a veneer of aristocracy1 which makes one sadly think of the truth of the words pronounced by ,courier on ,general ,bonaparte's elevation to the throne3 ,he aspires to descend4 ,yet even in this peculiar and rather negative world the chronicle of the curieux may contain some glorious names1 and these no doubt prepared at the beginning of the nineteenth century the return of the cult of art in ,france1 the reappearance of devoted collectors and enlightened amateurs4 ,we may then name successively art lovers and intelligent collectors such as ,lenoir1 ,du ,sommerville and ,sauvageot1 ,revoil ,willemin4 ,and after them artists1 collectors and dealers of the calibre of ,mlle4 ,delaunay1 ,escudier1 ,montfort1 ,roussel1 ,beurdeley1 ,henry ,grandjean1 ,mannheim1 the first of a dynasty of honest and intelligent dealers2 then almost in our own times ,baron ,davilliers1 ,bonnaff1 ,emile ,peyre and others4 ,but art collecting is now no longer an accentuated characteristic of ,france nor of ,england1 ,germany and other ,european countries which have a tradition and have come to the fore1 but other new and powerful ,states have joined the contest1 cast new types of collectors and created a new psychology in the art world which will form the second part of this book4 ,,part ,,ii ,,the ,,collector ,,and ,,the ,,faker ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,collectors ,,and ,,collections ,collectors and collections--,various kinds--,meaning of the word curieux--,various types of collectors3 the artist1 the scholar1 the eclectic and the specialist--,a large class of collectors as defined by ,la ,bruyre--,the ultra-modern collector--,the art and curio market--,the three stages of the collector's career--,the collector's touch--,the elasticity of prices and an opinion of ,c4 ,t4 ,yerkes--,gersaint's advice and ,schlegel's opinion--,a ,latin saying re-edited by ,edmond ,bonnaff4 8,la collection c'est l'homme10 a well-known ,french lover of art and first-rate connoisseur used to say4 ,nowadays this transformation of ,buffon's threadbare saying is only partially true4 ,it would1 perhaps1 be more correct to put it in the past tense1 as a new type of virtuoso has arisen4 ,a collector of the most recent brand prefers to buy collections 8ready-made40 ,such collections all gathered in good order in the houses of these new collectors speak very eloquently of the owner's financial power1 but say nothing of his taste1 ability1 or love for the artistically fine and beautiful4 ,however1 this being somewhat of a recent change brought about by casual circumstances with hardly any claim as an artistic phenomenon1 this study can be confined for the present to that normal period1 barely past1 when the art and curio collector was really a 8collector0 and above all a lover of art as well as a passionate hunter after fine things4 ,from the study of this semi-past world of art it will be easy to proceed to a comparative analysis of the up-to-date one1 to the new species of collector who in no way comes under the definition 8,la collection c'est l'homme40 ,in the foregoing review of collectors and collections1 it has mostly been a question of art collectors1 with only incidental reference to other kinds of art lovers4 ,curios1 however1 imply many other things4 ,the ,french word curieux1 which has often been used for lack of a better expression1 has a wider meaning4 ,the word curieux1 which might be translated by the ,english word 8curious10 without losing much of its meaning1 may have originated in the ,latin curiosis1 though it is doubtful whether the ,romans ever applied this word to connoisseurs of art or other collectors4 ,the fact that the artistic world was then divided into lovers of the beautiful and faddists or fools1 that erudites had not yet appeared1 may have rendered new words of definitions useless4 ,when speaking of his friend ,statius as a connoisseur and virtuoso1 ,pliny uses the ,greek word 7friend of the beautiful71 a word that might really be used to define the true and genuine collector4 ,the ,french word curieux appears for the first time in a dictionary by ,robert ,estienne 7#aeca7 and is defined ung homme curieux d'avoir ou savoir choses antiques but later on1 presumably from its probable ,italian origin1 the word acquires a wider sense1 a sense that even finds an echo in ,shakespeare1 and so also the old meaning of gentilezza as used by ,lorenzo ,medici has a resonance1 according to ,lacroix du ,maine1 in the ,french gentillesses ou gentilles curiositez4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,child4 ,by ,ferrante ,zampini4 ,illustration3 ,,san ,,giovanni4 ,by ,ferrante ,zampini4 ,notwithstanding this limitation1 for many the word curieux has the widest meaning and includes all kinds of collectors4 ,trevoux' definition 8res singulares1 eximi rar0 with ,millin's broadening comment 8tout ce qui peut piquer la curiosit par la singularit des formes ou des usages0 7all that may excite curiosity in strangeness of form or use71 is the proper one1 regardless of ,mme4 de ,genlis1 who as late as #ahah goes back to the old meaning and includes under curiosit the entirely scientific ,natural ,history collections4 ,it must be said that the distinction between scientific and artistic pursuits is not always clearly defined4 ,science mingles with art with undisputed right1 and scientific pursuits at times have artistic interest4 ,the two seem either to alternate their rights or share them in the fields that lie between4 ,in the artistic field1 or rather in that which tallies with ,millin's definition of la curiosit there are two quite typical classes even though they cannot be separated by a sharp line of delimitation on account of linking subdivisions4 ,the one includes the art collector alone and the searcher for the beautiful1 the other those gathering the rest1 things which for 8strangeness of form or use0 present a certain interest to the collector4 ,there is no doubt that those of the first class possess the impulsiveness that generally characterizes intuitive and non-learned experience in art1 and those of the second combine artistic and scientific interests4 ,the one has a tendency to consider and value objects in a different manner from the other3 the artistic temperament has a penchant for synthesis1 the scientific is inclined towards analytic methods4 ,while the collector of the first class has a direct purpose--the search for what is artistically fine1 the other is less absolute1 and for him objects have what may be called a relative value1 the value of the series4 ,in collecting coins or medals1 the latter more especially1 art plays an undisputed part1 but science claims the right of classification1 thus placing a relative value of no secondary importance4 ,as a consequence1 for instance1 a medallist is likely to speak of the rare in place of the fine1 or at times use one word for the other4 ,it may be that in the eyes of a numismatist a sample of inferior art acquires great value through its rarity and through the place that it may occupy in the series of his collection4 ,there are some collections consequently in which the best artistic samples are forced to play a secondary part1 the object of the collection being classification1 just as shells1 minerals and other purely scientific gatherings would be arranged4 ,this peculiar tyranny of science may even find scope for action in expressions of art1 where science and erudition should have no claim4 ,in museums of painting and sculpture the history of art demands that the objects should be classified according to epochs1 schools1 etc4 ,the man intent upon such classification often becomes so engrossed in this one scientific side as to grow indifferent to those artistic considerations which give the painter and the real lover of art the joy art is intended to give4 ,even connoisseurship is often too tainted by erudition1 and the curators of museums are very rarely sthetes4 ,at the sight of a fine work of art1 a connoisseur is very often so intent upon discovering the name of its author1 the probable school and the epoch--all forms of classification--that he forgets he is before a work of art1 that is to say1 an expression of human sentiment1 which whether good or bad was created solely to arouse artistic emotion in the beholder4 ,the artist1 while creating it1 had certainly not in mind the history of art and all its erudite paraphernalia4 ,there are two other distinctions in art collecting1 distinctions so closely allied to the above classes that they share the respective characteristics in a very similar manner4 ,they are represented by the eclectic collector and the specialist1 two distinct orders both useful in a way1 both belonging to the artistic sphere4 ,the eclectic is well defined by ,gersaint as 8an amateur whose passion presupposes taste and sentiment02 the other1 the specialist--generally regarded as having perfected his taste by dropping his initial eclecticism--is a collector who has restricted the field of his activity by grafting1 so to speak1 the purity of his artistic penchant on something that tends to diminish the broad outlook of an eclectic lover of art1 and this in order to enlarge the possibilities of research and information4 ,thus although the specialist has very often passed through an initial period of eclectic wandering1 when he becomes a specialist he is very apt to forget his past enthusiasm for anything but his chosen speciality4 ,show a fine ,limoges enamel to a collector of medals or a medal to a collector of enamels and you will realize the truth of the statement4 ,of course he will understand the beauty of the work--though not invariably--but he will take no interest in it4 ,while having perfected his taste in some single branch of art1 the specialist has unquestionably atrophied all artistic qualities in other directions4 ,this theory naturally becomes more or less elastic according to the genre and the character of the art lover4 ,a man who is a specialist on certain epochs is hardly a specialist in the true sense1 but rather an eclectic who has restricted his pursuits so as to reconstruct in his mind the whole artistic expression of a certain age3 the medallist and such like collectors have not such a wide scope and their pursuits generally come to be characterized by method1 order and a whole ,indian file of historic and erudite considerations4 ,the tout ensemble of an eclectic's house presents a very decorative appearance1 that of the specialist does not always1 being mostly encumbered with glass cabinets or pieces of furniture with shelves adapted to his speciality4 ,the eclectic collector will often speak of the beauty of a certain find from a purely artistic point of view1 the specialist will grow poetic over the perfect cast1 patina1 etc4 ,the specialist in medals will often show you two or three specimens of the same medal only distinguished by the colour of the patina or differences of no artistic value1 and chronological considerations weigh with numismatists4 ,the specialist must therefore frequently recur to scientific methods4 ,in ,paris there is a loose belief that an art lover who is an eclectic reveals a somewhat provincial sentiment1 and that to be characterized as a true ,parisian one must be a specialist in some one thing4 ,this belief naturally implies that the specialist has refined his taste and acquired distinction from the grossness and obtuseness with which eclecticism is libelled4 ,yet this is hardly true1 the best ,french collectors1 such as ,davilliers1 ,piot and others1 were always enlightened eclectics in their various pursuits though having a bent towards specialization4 ,nevertheless1 we repeat that distinctions cannot be made with mathematical precision4 ,the difference between artist and erudite1 eclectic and specialist would seem to have been well defined only by ,bonnaff in his characteristic saying3 8,the first throws himself upon his knees before ,beauty2 the other asks her for her passports40 ,neither of the two methods ensures infallibility4 ,the artistic collector1 a lover at first sight1 may be deceived by an imitation possessing character and general effect sufficient to pass in his eyes for an original2 the erudite with his brain in the place of his heart1 who demands 8passports0 before making up his mind1 may be duped by a forged 8passport10 by an imitation1 that is to say1 in which the details are respected even to the sacrifice of the totality which so greatly appeals to artists4 ,there is one more kind of art and curio collector1 perhaps the most numerous of all4 ,they have been well defined by ,la ,bruyre more than two hundred years ago4 ,this particular type of art lover is on the look out not for what he really loves but for that which affords him gratifications other than those art is intended to give4 8,it is not an amusement10 says the author of ,les ,caractres in his chapter on ,fashion1 8but a passion often so violent that it lags behind love and ambition only as regards the paltriness of its object40 ,passing then from the description of the effect to the cause1 ,la ,bruyre proceeds3 8,la curiosit is a taste for what one possesses and what others do not possess1 an attachment to whatever is the vogue or the fashion2 it is not a passion felt generally for rare and fashionable things1 but only for some special thing that is rare and above all in fashion40 ,to this last category1 with a few slight modifications1 belongs the type of collector who might be called ultra-modern to distinguish him from his modern confrres of yesterday1 a type that can lay no claim whatever to the definition 8,la collection c'est l'homme10 because he never troubles himself to hunt for works of art or curios1 never experiences the joys of discovery1 experiences nothing perhaps1 but being cheated by dealers1 friends and experts4 ,the ultra-modern collector is1 of course1 amply supplied with money1 and relies chiefly on his cheque-book4 ,he is always far from the spot where he might learn wisdom1 yet not so far as to be beyond the pale of the deceit and trickery of the market of la curiosit4 ,this latest variation carries one direct to the modern ,american type of collector4 ,not because the type does not exist in other countries1 but because ,america has furnished the champion specimens who through the magnitude of their speculations in art- and curio-hunting have stamped the type4 ,yet even in ,america1 where art lovers like the late ,quincy ,shaw1 ,stanford ,white1 ,h4 ,walters1 etc41 have been known1 the ultra-modern type represents a very recent and astonishing novelty4 ,one conversation on art with this modern collector is generally sufficient to reveal all absence of real passion4 ,these greedy buyers of works of art and curios have often hardly the time to give even a glance at their glamorous purchases4 ,they have certainly not the enjoyment that other collectors have4 ,when they show their collections1 a common way of soliciting admiration is to recount the unreasonable and extravagant prices paid4 ,what are they after8 ,what is their main object in ransacking old ,europe for artistic masterpieces to be carried off by the sheer force of money8 ,lovesque says one is a connoisseur by study1 an art lover by taste1 and a curieux by vanity1 to which ,imbert wisely adds3 8or speculation40 ,making every possible exception1 vanity and speculation still appear to rule alternately the ultra-modern collector4 ,we do not deny that many of them may be animated by the noble desire to leave their collections to their countries1 but yet on closer study the attraction for the greater number of them seems to be either a modification of their financial interests1 namely1 sport and speculation combined1 or an inclination to spend money lavishly1 everything being too easily possible by reason of their great money power4 ,in a humorous toast at an ,american dinner1 ,stanley1 the explorer1 said that a citizen of the ,united ,states is never at rest till he has found something that he actually cannot afford to buy4 ,the definition fits the millionaire art collector with more correctness and exactitude4 ,in this field he shows himself a regular blas of buying possibilities--and his passion for art and curios may to some extent bring him out of his torpidity by the extra magnitude of the investment4 ,as ,bernard ,shaw says1 a millionaire can buy fifty motor-cars but can only drive one at a time4 ,he can buy food for a whole city but has only one stomach to digest it1 secure all the seats in the theatre but can only occupy one1 etc4 ,but to own a work by ,michelangelo or ,raphael is a different tale2 it affords one the sensation of owning and driving a hundred or more motor-cars all at the same time in a sort of modern--ultra-modern--triumphal march of glory to the up-to-date ,olympus of the privileged1 where fame is highly seasoned with self-advertisement1 and superlatives the daily ingredient of reputation4 ,for others the modern whim of collecting works of art may represent a diversion from business1 or a way in which 8to astonish the natives40 ,from this type we come to the old forms of foolishness1 the ,trimalchos1 ,euctuses and ,paulluses1 etc41 who have changed the ancient palanquin carried by slaves for a brightly coloured motor of sixty or ninety horse-power4 ,one reason why this modern type of collector is so commonly deceived is because he generally lives in a sort of fool's paradise of art trumpery separated from the real art market by a little understood feeling of aristocratic pride4 ,the art collector of olden times used to mingle with dealers1 learn from them where and what to buy1 tramping from place to place1 the former ,el ,dorado of the 8find40 ,the modern species would consider it beneath him to have anything to do with common dealers or to attend a public sale even for the sake of interest in art4 ,how can they gain experience8 ,they may engage an expert4 ,no doubt a good expert can assist them1 but the real collector carries his experience in his pocket1 for the expert1 like the gendarmes of the well-known ,french operetta1 arrives always too late4 ,sometimes a legion of experts are not able to save one from deception4 ,a well-known ,american collector on a visit to ,italy with his small court of experts was once offered in ,florence a crystal cup supposed to have been cut by ,valerio ,vicentino4 ,with the full approval of the experts the cup was bought for the not inconsiderable sum of four thousand dollars4 ,the handsome find turned out to be the work of a faker practising in the ,north of ,italy and the whole scheme planned by a non-,florentine dealer4 ,the fancy prices paid for antiques to-day and the peculiar idiosyncrasies of this new species of collector have quite logically somewhat changed the character of the commerce1 have given another tonality to the milieu in which the art lover moves4 ,it must be admitted that the trade in antiques and curios is now far less interesting than formerly4 ,the antiquary and dealer of yore were most interesting and characteristic4 ,their business could be defined by the ,horatian adage1 ,omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci 7he wins the praise of all who mingles the useful with the pleasant71 for while they had a keen eye to business1 they also possessed the passion and intelligent understanding of art4 ,the real antiquary hardly exists to-day1 at best he is represented by some old champion1 the solitary survivor of a past generation4 ,the modern variety1 even the most enlightened1 is nothing but an ordinary dealer4 ,it is no exaggeration to say that traders and antiquaries like old ,manheim and the rest whose intelligent criticism and learning was of such assistance to the collector are no more4 ,the vulgar jobbery of the dealer of to-day may eventually find its justification in the commonplace1 unintelligent and gross clientele upon which it practises4 ,with few exceptions1 the ability of this pseudo-antiquary of to-day is more the ability of a common jobber than of an intelligent man4 ,the trade has lost to a great extent the old artistic savour1 bluff has succeeded capability4 ,the new strategy is based upon knowing before others when some new ,crsus has become a votary of art1 upon getting in touch with him before he has lost his money or his illusions2 it relies also upon what the ,french call 8puffing what he has to sell10 and a keen insight into the client's weak side1 the ability to fan his pride and ambition4 ,of course1 as stated above1 there are happy exceptions1 merchants still honouring the trade who deal with absolute rectitude1 and would be ashamed to resort to the aforesaid indirect methods to conclude a sale1 but nevertheless 8the gods are departing0 and the erstwhile dealer plus antiquary1 this interesting figure once afforded by the art and curio market1 has vanished4 ,to whatever order a collector may belong--exception being made for the ultra-modern type who1 generally speaking1 has in our opinion hardly any claim to the title of art collector or even simple curio-hunter--there generally exists a preparatory stage in his career4 ,no matter how the mania or passion has been caught1 there are three stages in its course that can very rarely be suppressed4 ,the genesis of the passion is seldom spontaneous1 there is generally an infective cause that helps the development of the fever for antiques and curios4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,athlete4 ,imitation of ,roman ,work by an unknown artist of the #aeth ,century4 ,it is attributed to ,pollajolo4 8,i believe10 says ,major ,h4 ,bing ,hall in his book ,the ,adventures of a ,bric--brac ,hunter1 8my friend ,mrs4 ,haggleton's taste for collecting the plate of ,queen ,anne's era originated in the fact of her aunt having left her a teapot of that admirable period of the goldsmith's art in ,england4 ,the teapot inspired an ardent desire to possess other articles of the same style4 ,the lady mildly commenced with salt-spoons1 and became in due course the proud owner of mustard-pots1 salt-cellars1 and one large piece of sideboard plate1 which from the day she purchased it to that of her death every night faithfully accompanied her to her bedroom4 ,my old bachelor friend ,croker1 again1 began collecting ,wedgwood because some one had told him he possessed a very fine specimen2 while to my certain knowledge he was as ignorant of its value and exquisite design as his own footman could have been40 ,there are naturally worthier causes1 far higher and more pleasing motives to lead a man of refined taste to become a real practical collector--or dreamer according to circumstances--but the genesis above-quoted1 to which might be added the having of a collector among friends or relations1 is the most common4 ,one thing is certain1 when the passion is genuine and consequently gives proof of being of a character that promises success and satisfaction1 there is no cure for it1 it becomes chronic almost invariably4 ,the first stage upon which the collector or simple bric--brac hunter is likely to enter might be called the rosy period of his career4 ,he is generally inclined to optimism1 he dreams of nothing but masterpieces and astonishing finds1 to such an extent that he sees chefs-d'uvre everywhere4 ,if he owns capital1 this is of course his most perilous period2 if he has no capital1 everything depends upon his wisdom1 his credit1 or the possibility of borrowing money4 ,naturally we are only referring to the most acute cases1 temperaments vary1 and the infection may be more or less dangerous according to the disposition of the individual4 ,curiously enough1 in this ,collectomania fever1 the first time what might be called a chill is taken1 improvement sets in1 convalescence perhaps4 ,chills in the purchasing of curios and antiques often mean an awakening of suspicion of being cheated4 ,a very bad chill1 ague in fact1 is usually experienced with the first bad bargain1 when1 ignorant of possible dangers1 one considers oneself a full-fledged connoisseur and adds to one's private collection a pseudo-masterpiece1 realizing too late that the purse has been considerably lightened by a round sum paid for--rubbish4 ,there is hardly a more sudden and effectual method of learning wisdom4 ,some learn at once1 others are obdurate and need a whole sequence of misadventures before realizing that they have been cheated1 or becoming aware that they themselves are chiefly responsible for being cheated4 ,these latter over-cheated ones1 more especially1 either abandon the amusement in a moment of despondency or1 if they persist1 enter upon the second stage of preparatory training1 a stage mostly characterized by scepticism and distrust4 ,at this moment you might offer the neophyte a genuine ,titian for a mere song and1 blinded by fear1 he is likely to believe it a copy2 offer him the most authentic medal by ,pisanello1 the very one he desired1 and he will hesitate4 ,hesitation and colour-blindness are metaphorically the main characteristics at this time4 ,there is1 however1 a good-natured type who oscillates1 pendulum-like1 between one stage and another1 from enthusiasm to depression4 ,emerging from this second stage of semi-despondency1 the neophyte is in all probability regaining a certain equilibrium and realizes above all that the buying of antiquities and curios is no easy matter to be handled by the first new-comer1 even though well-stocked with money4 ,this is a salient point in real progress1 and from this time each year will add experience and connoisseurship4 ,if the art lover possesses the so-called collector's touch1 it is at this particular stage he will discover that such a gift without study and practice does not lead to infallibility4 ,speaking of this quality which every beginner believes himself to possess1 it cannot be denied that there are people who do have a certain happy intuition of things1 an almost miraculous sixth sense1 fully testifying to the existence of what the ,english call the collector's touch and the ,french name le flair1 but1 alas6 it is so very rare4 ,think of it1 rhabdomancy in art6 ,an amateur's education is in most cases slow and by no means an easy conquest4 ,there are no books that can teach him the practical side1 the safe and important side4 ,book-learning is certainly of great assistance as secondary matter and completely subordinated to the education of the eye4 ,some of the best art connoisseurs1 those of the surest touch1 come from an ignorant class of workers1 such as the celebrated ,couvreur of ,paris or the ,milanese ,basilini1 a former carter who was often consulted by ,morelli1 the ,italian art critic and inventor of the analytical method1 a connoisseur of undisputed merit4 ,an antiquary of repute and art dealer of the old school claims that the perfecting of the eye resembles the focussing of a photographic apparatus1 with the difference that in photography one can learn how to focus with almost mathematical precision1 whereas in connoisseurship it is a continual focussing for when what looks like a supreme conquest is reached1 the eye becomes still more perfect and exacting4 ,similar progress characterizes the proper valuation of prices1 the most elastic side of the trade4 ,it must be remembered that as soon as an object leaves the shop to enter the collection of a collector of repute1 it increases in value1 because it is presumed to be genuine and choice1 having been selected by an art lover of cultivated taste4 ,then1 too1 away from the chaos of the shop and in a good light a work of art shows at its best4 ,in every branch of commerce there are shops and shops1 ,piccadilly and ,cheapside mean the same also in the world of curio and bric--brac4 ,in conclusion1 apart from the pleasure afforded by the pursuit of fine objects1 there is hardly a better way for a collector to invest his money1 provided he knows how to do it2 and there is no worse business1 none so unreliable and hastily ruinous as curio hunting if one is not a true and real hunter4 ,what to buy as safe investments is told by ,gersaint1 a dealer and connoisseur of the eighteenth century4 ,he says that 8by sticking to what is beautiful and fine one has the satisfaction of becoming the possessor of things that are always valuable and pleasing4 ,i dare say that going in for the beautiful diminishes the probabilities of being duped1 as often happens to those who are content with the mediocre or are tempted by low prices4 ,it is very rare that a first-rate work of art does not realize at least the price paid for it4 ,the mediocre is likely to lead to a loss40 ,this advice1 however1 tacitly presupposes the collector to be able to tell the fine from the mediocre1 to be1 in a word1 either an artist or a connoisseur4 ,with this part of connoisseurship we propose to deal in another chapter at the end of this work4 ,at present we would state that the safest thing for an art and curio collector to do1 whatever his ambition1 is to become acquainted with the various ways of the peculiar milieu into which he is about to enter1 to train his eye as much as possible1 to be diffident at first and to have a passionate love for his interesting pursuit4 ,it will then be for the collector a source of no common enjoyment and a most pleasing occupation1 an occupation somewhat justifying the following lyricism of ,schlegel3 8,there is no more potent antidote to low sensuality than the adoration of the beautiful4 8,all the higher arts of design are essentially chaste without respect to the object4 8,they purify the thoughts as tragedy purifies the passions4 ,their accidental effects are not worth consideration2 there are souls to whom even a vestal body is not holy40 ,as the reverse to the ideal side let us warn the neophyte that the supreme joy of art-hunting is often embittered by the jealousy of colleagues1 and that benevolence in the environment in which the collector moves is as rare as the ceramics of ,henry ,,ii and the painting of ,michelangelo2 so much so that ,edmond ,bonnaff was fully justified in re-editing an old ,latin saying into3-- 8,homo homini lupus1 fmina fmin lupior1 curiosus curioso lupissimus0 7,a man against man is like a wolf1 woman against woman still more so1 but most of all is curio-hunter against curio-hunter47 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,collector',s ,,friends ,,and ,,enemies ,curio-trading--,the collector's friends1 semi-friends and enemies --,the antiquary1 the so-called private dealer1 the dealer1 bric--brac vendor and others of the species--,art critics and experts--,courtiers and other go-betweens4 ,madame ,rolland writes in her famous ,memoirs that one of her greatest objections to a certain suitor was the fact that he was a trader4 8,in commerce10 said this brilliant victim of the ,french ,revolution1 8one is supposed to buy at a low figure and sell at an exaggerated price1 a scheme usually demanding the aid of lies40 ,leaving with ,mme ,rolland the responsibility of such an assertion1 it is quite safe to say that the trade in antiques1 the flourishing commerce in curios1 is a trade1 if ever there was one1 in which objects are bought cheap and sold at a high price1 with a stock of lies as a necessary asset4 ,naturally the statement does not imply that every dealer is a confirmed liar1 ready to take advantage of the incautious and unskilled novice through misrepresentation4 ,yet even at its best the character of the trade in our day is such that it is difficult to score success without--what shall we say8--flavouring opportunity with fantastic tales1 without firing the client's enthusiasm with some form of mirage1 namely1 tricking his good faith to entice him within the orbit of--faith4 ,point out to a buyer1 for instance1 the different parts of an object that have been skilfully restored1 and nine times out of ten the customer will drop the whole business4 ,it is incredible the amount of stuff even a good art lover will swallow1 if properly offered by a person he trusts1 just as it is incredible to see how the enhancing of merits with--grey lies1 will help the conclusion of a good round piece of business4 ,one must have had a glimpse at the make-up1 have taken a peep behind the scenes to become aware that the more imposing the transaction1 the more diverting and genial is the comedy played before the customer1 who1 at first a spectator1 in due time will be called in most cases to take his part in the play1 the part of the duped4 ,there are methods to work up public enthusiasm greatly resembling those adopted by the scheming capitalist in the ,stock ,exchange4 ,an ,english curio dealer of unquestionably high repute realized large profits on ,dresden china by the artful way he put before the public an article apparently out of fashion with collectors of ceramics4 ,for two or three years he bought all the ,meissen ware within reach until he had accumulated a large quantity at extremely low figures4 ,then he began sending pieces to noted auction sales1 where he invariably sent agents to buy them in after running the objects up to an extravagant price4 ,this trick gradually built up a reputation for ,meissen china1 some noted collector began to take an interest in it1 others followed in his wake4 ,when ,meissen ware became the rage and prices were accordingly high1 the shrewd dealer got rid of his stock at an astonishing profit4 ,nothing absolutely dishonest1 one may observe4 ,yet without stopping to ask whether the action comes within ,mme4 ,rolland's hyperbolic conception of honesty1 it cannot be denied that in the fine art and curio trade what might be defined as the staging part is the most important1 even if it finds its greatest justification in clients who follow one another in taste like so many sheep4 ,the trade in curios may be more specifically outlined by the study of the dramatis person taking part in it4 ,it will then be seen that the artifice practised by the ,london antiquary of good repute is rather an anodyne form of misrepresentation4 ,such trade tricks differ from the commonplace ones characterizing unclean dealing in other branches of commerce2 there is a smack of genius about them which might at times plead for the pardon that ,draconian laws accorded to well-thought-out and talented forms of theft4 ,a picture of the clever plots and amusing intrigues planned to the detriment of the modern collector would demand the pen of a ,molire4 ,only the illustrator of ,monsieur ,tartuffe could give the proper colouring to such inconceivable plays4 ,these plays are hardly new1 however4 ,they have been constantly acted and re-acted with creditable success and enlivening innovations4 ,formerly fools alone were the victims1 rarely real collectors4 ,to-day it is different1 with the advent of the new type old distinctions have disappeared4 ,some among the many art collectors are intelligent in their work1 and far from being beginners4 ,they are outsiders1 however4 ,let them look within the penetralia1 into the mysteries1 the hidden secrets of the trade so carefully concealed from them1 and they will learn how little exaggeration there is in the saying that a large portion of the business in antiques and curios is tainted with fraud1 charlatanism1 etc41 and that even some of the best collectors of our time have been deceived to such an extent that they live surrounded by their objects of virtu as in a sham ,el ,dorado4 ,one of the late ,rothschilds1 a man known traditionally and de facto as a connoisseur1 a type of genuine collector1 used to say that all the objects of his collection were1 like ,csar's wife1 above suspicion4 ,yet by the side of the finest masterpieces there were some in that collection which were1 metaphorically speaking1 wives that ,csar would certainly have repudiated4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,reali ,,the ,,battesimo4 ,a ,bas-relief by ,sig4 ,natali1 of ,florence1 bought by the ,louvre as work of ,verrocchio4 ,sig4 ,natali1 a fine imitator of the ,quattrocento1 like ,sig4 ,zampini1 sells his products as genuine modern work even if the connoisseurs decide to believe them antique4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,bacchus4 ,by ,,donatello4 8,i would no more admit forgeries to my collection than ,i would allow my wife to wear paste diamonds10 was the boast of a well-known collector of bronzes in ,paris to a party of connoisseurs lunching with him4 8,but excuse me10 retorted a moralizing friend who was dying to reveal the truth to the 8great specialist10 8no one is safe nowadays4 ,there10 pointing to a bronze figure1 8that is1 what shall ,i say8 a paste diamond6 ,that object is a fake4 ,i can tell you where it was cast4 ,it was offered me very likely by the same fellow that must have palmed it off on you44440 ,there was no trial1 however1 because the great bronze specialist recovered his money from the dealer--but1 alas6 not his unblemished reputation4 ,such stories are not strange when it is considered that museums are regularly infested by forgeries and spurious objects and that these have been admitted to public collections with the full approbation of learned curators and clever specialists4 ,it is easy to estimate how rampant and keen faking must be now that incredible prices are paid for articles of virtu4 ,how the antiquary1 the dealer1 the go-between and other characters in this world of deception may prove to be1 according to circumstances1 the friend or the enemy of the curio collectors1 is readily understood4 ,discrimination1 sometimes too late1 will teach who is a helper and who not4 ,the antiquary is generally a dealer who has no shop1 but keeps objects of art in his tastefully furnished house1 allowing his private show to be visited only by whom he chooses4 ,he is as it were the aristocrat of the trade1 the one who is presumed to ask and get the highest prices4 ,this select dealer's success is according to his ability1 integrity or the reputation for trustworthiness he enjoys among collectors4 ,we would repeat that the 8private dealer0 belongs to this high branch of the trade without any definite division4 ,very often he is a disguised trader with the grand air of a gentleman--an air that has to be paid for by the client1 who is less likely in such a sphere to attempt to drive the hard bargain that is peculiar to the humble bric--brac shops4 ,the best and most reliable antiquaries and private dealers must logically be reckoned among the friends of the art lover4 ,the latter is likely to pay them astonishing prices1 but he also pays for security4 ,he knows that the dealer's experience is absolutely at his service1 and that if by mischance an object is not what it has been represented to be1 the honest dealer will make it good4 ,to end with a brief classification1 it may be noted that there are dealers whose shops have private rooms in the rear where trade can be carried on in the same way as with a dealer who has no shop4 ,from this double-faced form we pass to the real shopkeeper1 the vaster class ranging from the vendor who can afford to fill his window with the choicest samples down to the modest curio shop1 the benevolent harbour of the humbler modes of expressing art4 ,with the exception of the unassuming curio shop1 which is still unchanged though less replete with interesting things and quite denuded of tempting 8finds10 the disappearance in the dealer of his former artistic sentiment has fomented in the trade the spirit of association4 ,trusts and alliances have been formed by big firms1 though the advantage to the amateur is to be doubted4 ,at one time such a thing was very uncommon1 if not impossible1 being apparently prevented by the dealer's originality and artistic temperament4 8,monsieur1 je ne suis pas le gendarme de la curiosit10 old ,manheim used to say to the novice showing him objects not purchased from his gallery4 ,this was the old attitude of the trade4 ,we do not mean that all behaved like ,manheim in refusing to play the part of 8policeman of curio-dealing10 others may have taken the opportunity to run down an article sold by a neighbour1 but there was no probability of an object passing from one firm to another in search of better success1 or going from ,paris to ,london and vice versa to find the proper atmosphere or the suitable kind of knavery4 ,psychologically speaking this is speculating on a faddism similar to that which induces the ,parisian dandy to send his shirts to ,london to be ironed1 and at the same time suggests an inverted game to the ,london snob who may believe that ,parisian starch is without an equal for shirt fronts4 ,the spirit of association and a perfected knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of the modern buyer have led to the discovery that some objects show to better advantage in ,paris and that others gain in the sombre grey atmosphere of ,london1 that each background has its peculiar value and may be turned to account respectively in the realization of higher figures4 ,there are even special cases when to fetch the best price an object must be sent to its birthplace where the freakish or immature client's fancy may be tickled to advantage4 ,the whole of this complex game in modern curio-dealing may be summed up in the single maxim3 8,find the vulnerable spot1 the ,achilles' heel of your client1 and you are safe40 ,it must be added that the ,achilles' heel of the modern collector may be of a more complex anatomy but is of more extended proportions than that of the ,greek hero4 ,as soon as a star of first magnitude bursts forth upon the financial sky to rise upon the artistic one1 all the forces of the latter quickly learn dynamic precision1 the extent of possibilities4 ,whether erratic or not1 the orbit of the new star will be studied throughout its course with astronomical exactitude4 ,to continue the metaphorical image it may be added that should the new star prove to be of solar magnitude a whole planetary system of cupidity and greedy desire will soon be formed within its golden rays4 ,from now forward it is of this shady brilliancy of the planetary system of the curio world that we intend to speak4 ,the honest dealer needs neither our praise nor defence1 he can take care of himself1 and the esteem he enjoys plainly divides him from the sphere upon which we are entering1 the precinct of an art and curio inferno which might bear ,dante's superscription3 8,through me is the way to the city dolent40 ,as the main principle of curio-dealing is to buy at a low figure and sell at the highest price possible1 it is evident that when this apophthegm falls into the hands of the unscrupulous1 the art of buying and selling takes on most ,machiavellian hues4 ,the infrequency of good bargains1 which are becoming rarer every day1 has lately fostered the activity of competition1 making the art of buying a shrewd1 unscrupulous game1 in which the dealer1 with his numerous emissaries1 is prepared1 ,proteus-like1 to invest himself with every imaginable part4 ,if an object cannot be secured in a direct manner1 the dealer will indulge in side-play1 called in the ,italian argot of the trade1 di mattonella4 ,when dealers are not admitted and it is important that the object should be inspected before the conclusion of a business transaction1 the antiquary or shopkeeper1 namely the buyer1 is generally careful to hide his professional quality4 ,he is often introduced as a foreign casual visitor interested in art4 ,if the pretended foreigner does not succeed in obtaining the object because the owner1 perhaps a gentleman1 has demanded a big price1 then other characters1 the decoys in the play1 may be put upon the stage to say that the object is not worth the price1 that it has been injured in restoration1 etc4 ,sometimes the pseudo-foreigner assumes the part of a novice naively confessing that he is not versed in antiques1 but should ,professor ,so-and-so give a favourable opinion he would willingly remit the price4 ,the rest is left to the sham professor4 ,of the self-disguising tendency of a noted ,italian antiquary when in search for the ever-rarer good bargains1 the following amusing story is told4 ,a noble family of ,pisa were induced1 by financial circumstances1 to part with some of their valuable works of art and made the condition that no antiquary or dealer was to be mixed up in the transaction4 ,a certain ,florentine antiquary noted for craft and trickery1 in particular1 was to be excluded4 ,the said antiquary got wind of the unusual opportunity and managed to visit the palace in the guise of a stranger4 ,he saw a certain work of art and a bargain was struck with ,count ,z41 the head of the family1 to the satisfaction of them both4 ,as the antiquary was about to leave the nobleman said1 confidentially1 8,don't let anyone know about this affair1 nor that ,i am selling things4 ,i have a particular objection to dealers1 above all to a certain intriguer and thief----0 ,here he named the very man he was addressing4 ,when bargains are made on the plan of exchanging one object for another1 they are no less disastrous for the unwary and ignorant owner4 ,there are ,madonnas by good ,renaissance artists that countrymen and villagers have gladly bartered for cheap modern chromo-like paintings worth only a few francs1 old artistic stuccos and bas-reliefs secured for some cheap piece of plaster-cast1 pieces of old damask exchanged by ignorant priests for a few yards of brand-new shining satinette4 ,even such exchanges necessitate at times certain wiles1 such as stories by 8go-betweens10 garbed as monks or priests1 posing as benevolent friends of the church or some other meek character4 ,a philodramatic society1 owning a small theatre1 once used a piece of fine ,flemish tapestry as a drop curtain4 ,dark and unattractive to the untrained eye1 the curtain was hung for lack of a better4 ,it was objectionably heavy to raise or lower4 ,to make things easier and lighter1 a ,mcenas of the dramatic art offered to exchange the old clumsy curtain for a new one painted in the most approved style4 ,the proposal was accepted with enthusiasm1 and after some time it was casually found out by one of the actors that their former curtain had been sold in ,paris to a ,french collector for a sum that would have built the needy society a palatial theatre4 ,if a dealer does not succeed in securing a work of art he is apt to spoil all chances for others by what is known as mettere il bavaglino1 that is1 metaphorically1 to tie a bib round the neck of the object4 ,the game is played by enthusiastically praising the article that it has not been possible to acquire4 ,when a certain kind of dealer finds that his offer has not been accepted he becomes artful1 admitting that he has tendered all he is able to give1 but that he honestly recognizes the article to be worth more4 ,proceedings now evolve much as follows3 8,how much do you think it is really worth80 asks the owner with legitimate curiosity4 8,a dealer richer than myself might pay so and so1 but then an outsider1 of course44440 ,here the trickster is not likely to estimate the work but will vaguely convey an idea of its immense value by telling of recent sales where millions have been paid for works of art4 ,the result is that the owner loses all balance as regards the value of his object1 and in all probability will never sell it for the simple reason that he raises the price every time the sum demanded is reached4 ,a doctor in ,lucca who possessed a passable ,maestro ,giorgio1 a ceramic piece that may have been worth ten thousand francs1 was unacquainted with its value and would have been willing to sell it for five francs4 ,he received an offer of fifty francs for it1 and thinking it generous for a cracked bit of earthenware1 became suspicious4 ,very soon the dealer bid a thousand francs1 then gradually worked up to three thousand1 the price he had made up his mind not to pass4 ,then when the 8bib0 was properly bound round the article he boldly offered fifty thousand--naturally intending to turn it all into a joke should the offer be accepted in good faith4 ,the castle-builder died dreaming of millions1 of course before having parted with his dish4 ,the heir sold it for a moderate sum1 so moderate a one that it might have raised a posthumous protest from the dead doctor4 ,in like manner1 but this time by way of a joke1 an antiquary persuaded a countryman that a brass dish he owned1 for which he had refused the few francs that it was worth1 was priceless1 that there was gold in the alloy and that the chiselling was a lost process in the art of working brass4 ,the specimen was rarissimo1 he said4 ,as a finishing touch and to give it a flavour of ,boccaccio-like humour1 he occasionally sent friends to play the part of anxious buyers1 offering higher and higher sums4 ,gradually dealers entered into the spirit of the joke and on passing the village never failed to offer a few hundred francs more for the now celebrated dish4 ,this trick is also called inchiodare un oggetto 7to nail down an object71 and is variously denominated in the different provinces of ,italy1 the curio-dealers' argot varying according to district4 ,the slang peculiar to the trade has not a wide vocabulary1 but comprises a few phrases and words by which the initiated can express an opinion upon some special thing or the artistic value of a certain object without being understood by the outsider4 ,for instance1 the word musica is indicative of faked objects1 not as a single word but set in a colloquial phrase4 ,a dealer who wants his aide-de-camp or go-between to know that the object in question is modern and not worth wasting time over1 yet would convey this opinion in the presence of the proprietor without letting him understand1 is likely to warn his colleague in some such a way as this1 8,before ,i forget it1 remind me to buy that piece of music10 or any other phrase in which music comes in naturally4 ,to state that a price is too high1 that there is no margin for business1 or maybe even risk1 the dealer will use the word bagnarsi 7to get wet74 ,it may also be merely hinted as1 for instance1 8,have you your umbrella80 if it should be raining1 or in good weather1 8,no need for umbrellas40 ,rather than containing a wealth of words the jargon is fanciful and pliable1 forming a sort of summary esperanto which with a few words furnish the freemasonry of the trade with multiform expressions4 ,the complementary characters to which we have alluded in our bird's-eye view of the curio market are liable to exchange their functions according to the moral principles directing their actions1 and in this peculiar chameleon-like attitude change colour and hide1 from friendship to enmity1 assisting the collector in his pursuit1 namely1 of helping the dealer to dupe him4 ,in broad terms they include art critics1 experts1 go-betweens and many metamorphoses of the most variegated agents4 ,to these forces must be added the silent help that is generally operative in favour of the dealer4 ,these are drawn from the multiform and numerous guilds of the restorer1 and from the questionable side of the trade1 namely1 fakers1 assumed owners1 noblemen or pseudo-noblemen willing to lend paternity and pedigree to works of art1 smugglers and other degenerate forms of criminal and semi-criminal activity4 ,speaking of the friends and enemies of the collector whose co-operation is more or less openly apparent and of a less mysterious character1 it may be said that the art critic and expert once represented two entirely distinct forms of interest in art4 ,a certain recent evolution of the art critic tends to intermingle the two groups4 ,the art critic of years ago was1 as a rule1 either a literary man who had a notion that he knew all about art by simple instinct1 or a scholar who1 having studied the historical part of art1 imagined that this knowledge was more than sufficient to label him a connoisseur4 ,the victims of this misunderstanding were not only the art critics themselves but museums and public institutions trusting to their knowledge of art and giving them posts as curators or advisers1 thus throwing their gates wide open to faking--as erudition without eye or experience seems to possess that deceitful form of suggestion which so rarely affects the cold1 keen intuition of the real connoisseur4 ,that scientists fall an easy prey to suggestion and are prone to daring or misleading hypotheses in art or archology is beyond question4 ,it is perhaps in the nature of their analytical work to tend to remain purely and simply analytical4 ,numerous and interesting anecdotes could be repeated4 ,a case of archological suggestive fancy is told by ,paul ,eudel4 ,a piece of pottery was brought to a member of the ,acadmie des ,inscriptions as it bore a rather cryptic sequence of letters that had proved puzzling to other authorities4 ,the pot with the letters in question1 ,m4 ,j4 ,d4 ,d41 had been excavated near ,dijon4 ,as soon as the ,academicien saw the letters he had no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a ,roman vase1 a small amphora used as an ex-voto4 ,the letters1 he said1 represented the initials of the ,latin invocation3-- ,,magno ,,jove ,,deorum ,,deo4 ,being a question of a votive offering1 nothing would be more consistent than the words1 8,to the great ,jupiter1 the god of gods40 ,unfortunately such a splendid piece of inductive learning was shattered when an ordinary art dealer examined the jar and declared it to be anything but ancient1 a mustard-pot in fact1 the initials meaning ,,moutarde ,,jaune ,,de ,,dijon4 ,for a considerable time an inscription found on a worm-eaten piece of a sign-board puzzled the world of erudites4 ,the inscription1 evidently the work of a jester1 ran thus3-- ,i4,c4,i44444444444444444,e444444444,s4 ,t4,l44444444444444,e44,c4,h444444444,e4 ,m4444444444444444444,i4,n444444,d44,e4 ,s4,a4444444444444444,n44,e444444444,s4 ,needless to say many explanations of the obliterated letters were prompted by the learned suggestive fancy of professors1 and many interesting reconstructions of the ancient inscription were given4 ,the riddle1 however1 was not solved till some one perfectly unacquainted with the art of reading old inscriptions happened to read the letters straight off without regard to spacing1 furnishing the following true explanation3-- ,,ici ,,est ,,le ,,chemin ,,des ,,anes4 ,this is the way for asses6 has since become a byword in lampooning blind erudition4 ,though art was not in question here1 the anecdote nevertheless illustrates a tendency of inductive science1 a mania1 namely1 for hypothesis and explanations which in the case of art often encourages the blunders of auto-suggestion4 ,a great distinction between practical and learned opinion is that the former rarely gives at first sight the name of the author of a painting or statuary1 whereas the latter almost invariably baptizes works of art4 ,hardly has a learned art critic cast his eye upon a work and out pops the name of the artist1 the school1 etc4 ,let him talk and you will soon discover that his conclusions are not based chiefly on the perfected comparative work of his eye1 but upon notions that book-reading has massed in his head4 ,he will refer to the now almost prohibited and threadbare authority of ,vasari--what would an art critic do without ,vasari either to abuse or quote--saying that such and such an artist painted so and so1 and speak of the influences of masters and schools1 go through a list of quotations from ,crowe and ,cavalcaselle down to more modern writers1 display any amount of borrowed wisdom but no originality2 finally1 through lack of a trained eye1 he will grow poetic and enthusiastic impartially before a genuine work or a faked masterpiece4 ,were not curio dealers a rather close-mouthed guild1 they might divulge some interesting incidents with regard to this subject1 and prove that though the case is uncommon there are in this trade not only fakers of great masters but master fakers of public opinion as well4 ,of the expert1 ,henry ,rochefort says3 8,at first this name expert appears to awake in us the majestic idea of science and authority4 ,a dangerous opinion to entertain40 ,as a matter of fact there is no control1 for1 as ,rochefort goes on to remark3 8,who can prevent a citizen from calling himself1 for instance1 an expert in pictures80 ,the dangerous vagueness of the profession1 the facility with which the title is acquired1 together with the multitudinous offices it fills1 make of the expert a perilous companion at times4 ,there is no doubt that when the magniloquence of the title is justified1 through unquestionable ability1 supported by a reputation of untainted honesty1 the expert may be of the greatest and most valuable assistance a collector can desire4 ,his ability must then be paid for at what it is worth4 ,but even when highly paid it is cheap compared with the blunders the expert is likely to save the collector--those costly blunders that are so often an integral part of the commencement of the career4 ,on the other hand1 what an ignorant expert1 in his supreme disdain for learning1 is capable of saying when tendering information1 is incredible4 ,rochefort has made an amusing collection of blunders by experts when called upon to pronounce an opinion on matters in which practice counts for nothing4 ,the anecdotes were gathered by the ,french writer in the public auction rooms of ,paris where the expert has an official function4 ,here he is prepared to furnish details and useful hints regarding the objects put up for sale1 to enhance their importance4 ,a collector confided to the care of an expert1 ,monsieur ,f----1 a painting of a religious subject representing a scene from the ,apocalypse4 ,giving this information1 the owner asked the expert to put the painting up to auction at the first important sale4 ,according to arrangement1 ,monsieur ,f---- included the work among other canvasses at a public sale and printed in the catalogue as a description of the subject3 ,tableau de saintet d'aprs l',apocalypse 7,sacred picture after ,apocalypse74 8,d'aprs l',apocalypse860 questioned some one when the work was offered for sale4 ,to which the unabashed expert promptly replied3 8,yes1 sir1 ,apocalypse2 a ,german painter not very well known in ,paris but highly esteemed abroad40 ,another such catalogue1 the product of a no less imaginative expert1 announced a canvas on sale to be the portrait of ,louis ,,xv by ,velasquez6 ,a figure of a woman washing dishes1 attributed by the expert to ,rubens on account of the exuberant rotundity of the model1 needed perhaps a further justification for this daring attribution1 for it was decorated with the following astonishing comment3 8,portrait of ,rubens' wife40 7,it is generally known that ,rubens married his cook47 ,the recent mania of the collector to possess masterpieces has turned the expert to a most versatile form of activity in order to please this exacting fancy of the buyer4 ,a painting becomes 8of the school0 of this or that artist when it is really too bad to bear even the uncompromising qualification1 8attributed to so-and-so40 ,it is difficult to tell when a man ceases to be an expert and becomes invested with the part of courtier1 because in keeping with the general character of the various functions of the curio world1 there is no definite and plain delineation between the one capacity and the other4 ,the courtier is naturally supposed to know all about the trade1 to possess the necessary elements for appreciation of artistic value and to make others appreciate it4 ,his chief mission1 however1 is to smooth over business difficulties that might arise between the seller and the buyer4 ,as may be logically expected1 the metamorphoses of this personage are infinite and may be useful or not to the collector according to circumstances4 ,in conclusion1 the go-between is not only often a necessary complement but may at times be used to great advantage4 ,the difficulty lies in knowing how to choose the right sort4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,imitators ,,and ,,fakers ,the dealer's silent partners--,the important and interesting guild of restorers--,the imitator an unwilling accomplice--,on the shady side of silent activity--,again the faker--,the patrician who supplies the pedigrees--,the smuggler and his ways--,the 8black band0--,wise tactics4 ,we now enter the department of the curio dealer's silent helpers1 the manifold activities assembled under the broad if not indefinite name of restorer4 ,a brief glimpse into this part of the trade will lead us to another artistic division1 that of the imitator1 and these two last classes of an unquestionable character will serve admirably to herald and usher into that deeper1 darker stratum of the commerce in which the faker represents the principal character4 ,that the restorer should be called the curio dealer's silent partner is quite correct as a true definition4 ,the day one of these mute confidants should feel inclined to boast1 he would find no mercy from the dealer and no gratitude from the duped or disappointed collector whose eyes he had opened by revealing the truth4 ,this was fully exemplified by a clever restorer of paintings1 employed by an ,italian antiquary at forty francs a day--no mean pay--on account of his unusual ability in the imitation and restoration of works by ,botticelli more especially1 as well as for other pastiches4 ,thinking to start a profitable business of his own as an art restorer and that his merits would be valued per se1 he disclosed the secret of the made-up ,botticellis to a rich collector and let out that he himself to all practical purposes had painted the gem of the gallery4 ,he was promptly discharged by his employer and the collector to whom he had told the truth became his worst enemy4 ,the activity of the restorer is naturally multifarious1 many-sided as is the trade in curios4 ,his methods will be better explained when art faking is described4 ,the procedure in imitating1 restoring and faking is more or less identical1 though in faking it is more synthetically perfect than when limited to restoring various articles of virtu4 ,there are people who consider restoration a blessing1 others the reverse1 a regular curse2 particularly in the case of works of art of no mean merit4 ,without doubt the restoring of works of art has at times greatly contributed to their preservation1 and more than one masterpiece has come down to us1 thanks solely to some clever restorer who at the right time prevented its complete ruin4 ,this is the good side of the profession1 but as for its reverse1 the art of restoring has1 through the ignorance of workers1 greatly damaged well-known works of art by the repainting or obliterating of different parts1 often helping deception by embellishing bad art into deceitful good art4 ,in this way the art of restoring has proved a bridge to fakery4 ,restoration at its best and in the true artistic spirit never consents to falsify any part of the work4 ,lies1 even in art1 no matter how well they may be told1 remain lies4 ,artistically and ethically speaking the operations of the restorer should be confined to work intended to save a work of art from the ravages of time4 ,these operations are many1 most varied and not at all easy4 ,they demand long practice1 a deft hand1 patience and skill as well4 ,the process of restoration may mean1 for instance1 the transference of the layer of paint from a rotted panel to a new one or to canvas1 the consolidation of a ceiling painting or other deteriorating forms1 revarnishing and1 to a certain extent1 cleaning4 ,in sculpture orthodox restorations appear to be of a more limited character1 being chiefly confined to collecting broken pieces and surface cleaning4 ,of course the repairing of limbs and missing parts has its importance if done with great artistic discrimination4 ,according to responsible art critics the restoration of paintings may consist of repainting the missing and obliterated parts and that of sculpture in the replacing of lost fragments only when decorative parts are concerned1 important for the better comprehension of the whole but not expressing any marked characteristic of the artist4 ,when in the service of the antiquary1 the art of restoring has no such scruples or limitations4 ,as a matter of fact its limits then rest with such restrictions as the dealer's conscience may impose1 and it must be confessed that this is rather a narrow and at the same time very elastic boundary4 ,the different views as to restoration are epitomized by the curious distinction made by connoisseurs and dealers1 when judging between the two cleverest restorers of ,italy4 ,the upshot is3 ,if you have a painting that needs repairing and you wish to restore it to its former state go to ,cavenaghi1 but if perchance you are interested to sell it go to--the other one4 ,disproportion and overdoing in restoration turns this very legitimate art at times into sheer faking4 ,a bust of a ,roman emperor1 for example1 that may have been found headless and which the restorer completes into a ,julius ,csar by copying the head of the great ,roman dictator from another statue1 represents a form of faking4 ,yet1 were our programme one of disclosing the names of saints and sinners instead of that of pointing out sins1 we could designate more than one dealer of good repute who sincerely thinks1 we may assume1 that his form of daring and attractive restoration cannot be called faking4 ,another rather questionable form of restoration is that of composing1 say furniture or any other ornamental goods1 from old bits or fragments taken from various rotten objects4 ,there is no doubt that a tasteful artificer can do effective work by composing a table out of two or three broken ones1 but nowadays such is the abuse of the method that we are only surprised that the trick is not more easily discovered4 ,some of these gross and hastily put together compositions of uneducated dealers must count upon clients not only ignorant1 but utterly deprived of good taste4 ,the faking qualities of this method are proved1 for as soon as the buyer knows of the admixture he refuses to buy the object4 ,yet such trickery is generally admitted in the trade4 ,there is1 perhaps1 a justification for this method of restoring antiques when the character of the article is decorative1 as in certain pieces of furniture1 marble or stone work1 such as chimney-pieces1 ornamented doors and so forth4 ,yet even in such cases honesty would seem to claim that the buyer be warned as to the extent of the restoration4 ,nevertheless the temptation to keep the secret must be great1 considering how rarely such patchwork is discovered even by experts1 and how easily it calls forth the praise and enthusiasm of art critics4 ,another form of restoration of a most questionable character1 as the decorative nature of the object cannot be claimed as an excuse1 is that1 by which a painting is transformed or embellished by repainting large missing portions more or less fantastically1 or by supplying the artistic quality that is wanting4 ,such work is either done by totally repainting the missing parts1 or by veiling and repainting here and there1 so as to give the work the attractiveness of a masterpiece4 ,naturally in the vast field covered by the questionable genius of this deceptive art1 limits are set by the greater or lesser capacity of the restorer1 just as the quality of the restoration determines whether he is to be called a professional repairer of paintings or a faker4 ,it is incredible what an amount of work is executed nowadays intended to give a coquettish character to a daub1 or to enhance the value of a fairly good painting4 ,even many masterpieces sold in recent times have been to our knowledge decorated with fantastic backgrounds of castles and quaint landscapes1 and mottoes and coats-of-arms have been added to portraits4 ,a barrel of alcohol--spirit1 it is known1 dissolves fresh varnish and modern retouching--would accomplish wonders with famous masterpieces of recent acquisition and cause many a disillusionment to the curators of museums4 ,as regards the juggling of poor or deficient works of what is generally called a school1 into a trompe-l'il1 making one believe it to be a painting by the master of the said school1 should ,italian export officials be inclined to make public what is intended to remain private1 many an astonishing coup de thtre would reveal the true nature of supposed masterpieces bought by unwary collectors as genuine chefs-d'uvre4 ,a member of the board of exportation explained to the author1 how it happens1 that the officials are frequently led into the penetralia of the make-up of a pseudo-masterpiece4 ,sometimes the work is done so well that it would deceive the very officials and experts of the export bureau4 ,in this case the antiquary1 who has sold the painting and is desirous that it should reach its destination without hindrance from the export office1 pays a visit to the inspector and shows him a photograph of the supposed masterpiece1 as it appeared before its coquettish restoration4 ,after this graphic proof the office has nothing more to say and permission to export is granted4 ,the members of the ,commission do not consider themselves to be responsible to collectors4 ,but they do demand documents as guarantees1 and two photos1 one taken before restoration and one after1 are generally exacted and kept in the office4 ,one of the ,commission showed us some of these photographs1 two in number for each object1 before and after the restoration4 ,one could hardly believe the miracles accomplished in this line4 ,botticini easily becomes a ,botticelli after a few caresses by a clever hand1 and we know cases in which a mediocre work by ,ridolfo ,ghirlandaio has been turned into a ,raphael4 ,these photographs are exacted by the inspectors as a protection from any possible accusation from the central department located in ,rome4 ,when the ,press gives an elaborate account of some ,american having captured a masterpiece1 giving facts and details and the reproduction of the chef-d'uvre1 adding that it comes from ,italy1 when ,london art magazines go into ecstasies over some newly-acquired find1 and wonder how the ,italian ,government came to allow such a magnificent 8find0 to slip through its fingers and cross the frontier1 the ,central ,office in ,rome naturally becomes alarmed and demands an explanation from the local office responsible for the exportation permit4 ,as a convincing answer the two photographs are then sent to ,rome1 with the consequence that the case is dismissed4 ,the various export offices1 whose chief duty it is to impede the exodus of fine works of art1 do not consider themselves under any obligation to prevent sham masterpieces from leaving ,italy4 ,the imitator1 a type to figure later as a help to the better understanding of the faker1 occasionally becomes an involuntary or accidental accomplice in deception4 ,his complete equipment1 his excellent work1 which but for his rectitude and scruples might turn him into a formidable faker1 are frequently exploited by others1 who1 on coming into possession of some of his good imitations launch them upon the collector world1 just as they might any species of faked works of art4 ,many of the noted bastard masterpieces in museums are the work of imitators that have been palmed off by tricky dealers without the consent or knowledge of the artist1 and it has often been the latter who has helped in the discovery of the fraud4 ,there are also cases when simple plagiarism or chance similarity has been turned to advantage by shrewd people4 ,the fact that ,trouillebert's painting greatly resembled ,corot1 was sufficient to give corrupt dealers the chance to pass off ,trouillebert's landscapes as works by the famous ,french master4 ,this was done1 of course1 in spite of ,trouillebert's protests1 who never thought of imitating ,corot4 ,it is curious when some work of a clever imitator or genial faker falls in the course of time into the hands of the restorer to be repaired--there are circumstances in which modern paintings may need repair4 ,something still more extraordinary happened to a clever restorer and imitator living in ,siena who received from ,england one of his own paintings--one of his first imitations of ,lorenzetti--obviously damaged and entrusted to him for restoration4 ,there are other characters which will form the subject of a more particular study4 ,these individuals belong to the shady side of the commerce and have no redeeming points whatever4 ,they comprise fakers1 forgers1 smugglers1 deceivers at large1 and the whole clan included in the vague and broad term 8the black band10 as some collectors call them4 ,the faker is the ,deus ex machina in the most varied kinds of deception4 ,fakers are not only those who furnish spurious works of art and well-imitated articles of virtu1 but also those who help in any form or manner to dispose of sham objects4 ,thus the parts played by masquerading aristocrats1 lending their names and swearing to heirlooms1 the debased patricians helping to build the reputation of an artistic product1 are forms of faking1 as well as others which aim at cheating or deflecting public opinion or a genuine appreciation--forms of faking that will be more clearly outlined when degenerate varieties of art sales are described4 ,one of the most clandestine helpers of art and curio-dealing and one who is in close contact with the dark side of the commerce is the smuggler1 a genuine specialist not resembling other smugglers but with characteristics of his own worth notice4 ,needless to say smuggling has no raison d'tre in such countries as have no custom laws to regulate the export of artistic goods nor put duty upon their entrance within the precinct of the ,state4 ,it is also obvious that the dual form of such legislation1 laws to prevent exportation1 and importation dues1 has produced two corresponding kinds of smuggling1 the one aiming to baffle prohibitive laws on exportation1 and the other trying to undervalue artistic goods generally taxed ad valorem4 ,italy being the classical country of art treasures which have been exploited for centuries1 and the first to issue laws and penalties on the subject1 it is naturally ahead in the cryptic art of smuggling4 ,the high tariff of the ,united ,states1 but recently abolished1 and the incredible prices paid by the citizens for antiques and works of art in general1 make it the country best adapted to illustrate the branch of smuggling which aims at avoiding ,custom ,house dues4 ,when reading old and modern laws promulgated against illicit exportation of works of art1 one cannot help wondering how such daring still exists1 and how there should still be people willing to brave the severity of these laws4 ,the ,medicis1 it is known1 prescribed punishments in the second half of the sixteenth century2 the ,papal laws that followed were if anything even more ,draconian1 to say nothing of the iron laws of the former kingdom of the ,two ,sicilies1 the severest of them all4 ,modern governments may not impose prison and galley so freely upon the culprit1 but they are no less hard on the transgressor4 ,money fines are certainly exceedingly heavy1 they amount at times to large fortunes4 ,the present laws on the export of art from ,italy have a preventive character which the old regulations had not4 ,every owner of a work of art is himself eventually responsible1 and is bound to bring it before the inspectors of the ,export ,office1 who after close examination give or withhold permission to pass the frontier4 ,when permission is granted there is a tax to be paid averaging between #e per cent and #bj per cent ad valorem1 according to the inspector's estimate1 and should the object leave the country after permission has been refused1 the owner is held responsible and may be called before the tribunal to answer for his action and to pay damages4 ,an ,italian adage runs3 ,fatta la legge trovato l'inganno1 which in a free translation may be rendered3 ,make a law and the means of evasion are found4 ,this is somewhat the fate of the protective laws regarding art in ,italy1 the more stringent and circumspect they are the law-breaker apparently becomes correspondingly bolder and more astute4 ,the way in which ,italian authorities have been hoodwinked at times1 points to the magnitude attained by the shrewd activity of the law-breakers1 and to how their art has almost been turned into a science1 even calling in the aid of psychology--in this case a deep study of the faulty idiosyncrasies of the officials4 ,a few skirmishes between the two parties concerned will serve to demonstrate the variety of the modus operandi adopted by the law-breakers and their final success over an easily conquered opponent4 ,in the case of a painting of unusual artistic value1 a work that has not been put upon the prohibited list of the official catalogue1 and the reproduction of which is unknown to the authorities1 but which might1 nevertheless1 by its good qualities catch even the generally inexperienced eye of the inspectors--mostly art critics of the literary species--the work is transformed into a daub without damage to the painting or change to any essential part4 ,the process is exactly the reverse of that helping a poor painting by clever restoration and additions4 ,here it is a question of reducing a good work to an apparently bad one1 obtainable chiefly by veiling the good qualities of the work1 altering good drawing by cleverly introducing offensive disproportion of limbs1 etc4 ,there is a difference1 however1 between the work intended to embellish a painting and that aiming to do the reverse4 ,the former1 with the idea of facilitating the sale1 is permanent1 the latter is only temporary1 just to get permission to export4 ,this latter work must be executed in such a way that it can be washed out without damage to the work after the painting has safely crossed the frontier4 ,for this operation a coat of glue is generally given as a preparation1 then the modifications are painted in with tempera on the layer of glue1 which is easily dissolved in water1 together with the retouching when the work is to be restored to its original state4 ,similar treatment is also given to statues1 busts and bas-reliefs1 more especially when of material that allows the addition of parts that can be removed afterwards without damage to the original4 ,how well the work is done and how successful it proves is hardly credible4 ,security lies in the fact that should a question be raised afterwards when the work has been sold to some noted collector outside the country1 nothing can be said or done1 as permission has been granted and there is no pictorial proof that the work had been done for the occasion4 ,naturally this method is not of daily or common occurrence1 nor1 as we have stated1 can it be applied to well-known works the photographs of which could be obtained to contradict evidence4 ,sometimes more is undertaken than retouching or apparently maiming the artistic qualities of a work4 ,one antiquary who intended to send off a painting that might be detained at the ,export ,office1 pasted paper over the picture1 and then after the usual coat of glue painted in tempera a very mediocre landscape4 ,with this he obtained the export permit and packed his work as prescribed by law before the eyes of the authorities1 after which the case was sealed by them and safely sent on its way to the frontier4 ,leaving the endless tricks which might be grouped more or less with the above we will take up other curious ways of eliciting permission1 methods showing the deceiver to be as good an observer of human nature as he is a true psychologist4 ,a noted bric--brac dealer entered the ,export ,office bringing a ,della ,robbia with him4 ,according to custom when official inspection is sought1 the bas-relief was packed ready for the permit and seal of the office4 ,taking off the lid of the case1 the dealer handed the documents to the inspector to be signed4 8,you must take us for fools10 said the latter1 struck by the beauty of the work4 8,do you really think we allow such works to leave the country80 8,well1 don't say anything and ,i'll explain things--look here40 ,the bas-relief was taken from the case and with a pocketknife the dealer scraped a piece of plaster from the apparently aged back1 showing not only freshly baked clay but the mark of a well-known modern factory of ceramics4 8,modern6 ,i confess ,i should never have thought it40 8,keep our secret10 pleaded the bric--brac dealer4 8,you see they go to ,america40 ,satisfied that his professional honour was safe with the dealer1 who would naturally not expose the blunder1 and not considering it within the sphere of his activity to see that ,americans were not fooled as he himself had been1 the inspector granted permission1 provided the documents should be honestly endorsed by the declaration 8modern40 ,later on the dealer presented himself with a similar work4 ,the case was hardly opened when the same inspector exclaimed1 8,oh these ,americans6 ,another cuckoo40 8,well1 as you stop the genuine we have to content ourselves with sending off imitations10 observed the dealer with intentional flattery4 8,they seem to prosper10 laughed the inspector1 signing the papers and sealing the case for expedition4 ,needless to explain1 this time it was a genuine ,della ,robbia1 sent off with all the requisite legal papers1 and labelled by the man of law as a modern work4 ,some years ago an antiquary of ,rome1 the owner of a statue of fine ,greek workmanship1 knew that if the work should be presented to the ,export ,office1 permission would be refused4 ,the statue had been excavated in three separate parts and subsequently recomposed1 and it was thought wise to take it apart again and send it off in that state4 ,the head1 the finest piece1 was taken across the frontier as luggage by a tourist1 the torso was sent out of ,rome to get the permission from the office of another city1 and the legs were the only part to leave the capital with free and unsuspecting permission from the ,central ,office4 ,a marble statue1 now in the ,museum of ,art in ,berlin1 a work of heroic proportions1 passed the frontier in two parts1 each piece packed in separate trunks such as are used by ladies4 ,the statue had been sawn in two along the line of the drapery in such a way that when the two parts were united the join could hardly attract attention4 ,that the great weight should not arouse suspicion the two marble blocks were hollowed out and thus considerably lightened4 ,the two parts of the statue were first conveyed to ,paris1 that haven of smuggled goods1 where they were reunited and the reconstructed statue was finally sent to its destination4 ,though cleverly put together the joint is noticeable to an experienced eye upon close inspection4 ,one wonders whether the authorities of the ,museum ever discovered that their fine specimen of ,roman ,renaissance1 which had been bought in a single piece in ,italy1 with the assurance that it was the dealer's affair to get it to ,berlin1 had been delivered in two patched pieces almost as hollow as a plaster-cast4 ,another curious form of smuggling1 which must be classed among the suggestive methods1 consists of perturbing and influencing the opinion of the ,export ,office employ or1 if necessary1 that of his immediate superior1 very often the curator of a museum or the highest authority on artistic matters in the province4 ,this sort of innuendo is accomplished in several ways4 ,sometimes a confrre will drop into the office as if by accident when the case is there ready for examination1 and on seeing the object will exclaim1 8,that awful thing1 sold at last60 ,he will naturally be asked to explain what he knows about it4 ,he may say that it was offered to him1 but that he had refused it because repainted and restored by so-and-so4 ,he is likely to conclude by saying1 8,ask the man who restored ----0 of course1 another confederate4 ,though it may appear nave and clumsy to the outsider1 this latter method has been known to work extremely well4 ,it is only to be expected1 too1 when the depth and calibre of ,italian official wisdom on art matters is taken into consideration1 the post of inspector being filled chiefly by scribblers or art critics1 seeking ,government employment2 or perhaps they may be students fresh from a recently instituted university course on art1 their main equipment being historical studies4 ,there is no question but that they are excellently informed1 so far as art erudition is concerned1 but they lack experience1 and the trouble is that the chief requisite in an office such as the ,export ,office is a long experienced and sure eye1 with a thorough knowledge of the trade in curios1 and its peculiar resources in deceit4 ,one word of doubt let fall at the right moment works wonders when dealing with people whose lack of practical knowledge is so appalling4 ,we recall the case of an inspector who felt uncertain as to the artistic value of a painting and finally resorted to the experience of his immediate superior1 the curator of a museum and a well-known art writer4 ,on examining the work the latter pronounced it to be a good specimen of the ,ferrara school1 and declared that permission could not be granted4 ,the owner and would-be exporter1 an antiquary in great favour1 called on the curator1 who had had the painting transferred to his own private room with a view to making a careful examination4 ,he directed the curator's attention to the repainted and repaired condition of the work4 ,persuaded finally that the painting was nothing but a shocking piece of modern restoration the curator granted permission4 ,a friend who was present and noticed the dealer's satisfied smile1 asked him afterwards whether the work was really so bad as he had represented to the curator4 8,not a single retouch10 was the answer1 8most genuine40 8,but you convinced him4 ,you pointed out the restored parts40 8,yes1 suggestion is one of our most formidable weapons10 assented the antiquary1 doubling his crafty smile4 8,yes4 ,suggestion is one of our best accomplices40 ,although recognizing that many of the employs of the ,export ,office are quite unfitted for their difficult task1 through their particular form of education1 we are ready to admit that to decide almost at sight1 what may safely leave the country and what must be retained1 is no easy affair4 ,imitations at times are so perfect that even the most experienced eye1 without mature and well-pondered examination of the object1 is apt to be duped4 ,some years ago one of the sons of ,professor ,costantini1 a well-informed antiquary of ,florence1 made a copy of an ,antonello de ,messina that was in his father's collection4 ,the copy was undertaken to oblige an ,english friend1 and being painted on an old worm-eaten panel of wood1 so cleverly imitated the original as to be mistaken for it4 ,when the work was to be exported the official refused his permission on the ground that it was by a great master and must consequently remain in ,italy4 ,however1 as the young artist insisted in his declaration that it was a copy made by himself1 appeal was made to the curator of the ,uffizi ,gallery of ,florence1 ,professor ,ridolfi4 ,the latter confirmed the inspector's verdict1 reiterating the prohibiting injunction1 and a sort of consultation was held1 with the aid of ,professor ,supino1 curator of the ,national ,museum1 ,professor ,elia ,volpi1 a highly esteemed antiquary of ,florence1 and a ,german artist1 acting restorer of paintings at the ,uffizi ,gallery4 ,they unanimously declared the work to be old4 ,some attributed it to ,antonello himself1 others to his school1 there was no suspicion of modernism4 ,the whole affair was afterwards settled as it should have been from the first4 ,professor ,costantini invited ,professor ,ridolfi and the others to see the original painting at his house4 ,when the high tariff on imported works of art and curios was still in force in the ,united ,states1 smugglers relied chiefly on undervaluation1 as orthodox smuggling1 namely introduction into the country without any payment of duty1 was hardly possible under the vigilance of ,argus-eyed ,custom ,house officials4 ,thus the grand art of smuggling works of art and antiques of repute1 always pliable to circumstances1 relied mainly upon the ignorance of the so-called appraisers4 ,at first a legal estimate enclosed with the documents accompanying the goods from their place of departure was sufficient and very rarely discussed4 ,gradually the ,united ,states ,custom ,house agents grew suspicious1 and to support the low valuation it became necessary to adjust the objects1 in very much the same way as was done to obtain export permission1 from the ,italian office4 ,one of the tricks practised in the case of furniture is to take off all ornamental and carved parts by disjointing or sawing and then polishing or in some way adjusting the place left bare4 ,the ornaments are sent separately to be replaced when the piece of furniture is safely beyond the reach of the ,custom ,house laws4 ,custom ,house officials all the world over are generally reckoned by trained smugglers to be very poor judges of art4 ,they consider them capable of making a great fuss over the wrong article and letting the dutiable ones slip through their fingers4 ,something of this kind happened at the ,custom ,house of ,bercy1 ,paris1 where1 with no intention of smuggling or deceiving the officials1 ,dazzi1 an ,italian dealer1 came to pay duty in a sort of topsy-turvy way4 ,together with other things1 ,dazzi was importing into ,france a box of modern bronzes1 imitating objects of ,pompeiian excavation and coated with an indecent patina1 green as a lizard's skin1 and a piece of seventeenth-century silk damask1 which according to ,french law should have been duty free as only antique goods of the eighteenth century and onwards pay4 ,after a long confabulation the appraiser of the ,custom ,house decided that being1 as he thought1 of modern fabric1 the damask must pay duty and that the bronzes1 supposed by him to be two thousand years old1 might enter free of duty4 ,dazzi saw that this queer exchange was to his advantage and submitted to the strange verdict without further observation4 ,in ,italy1 the law on exportation1 intended to prevent the exodus of fine works of art1 is often turned to advantage by sharp dealers who manage to have their mediocre goods detained at the ,export ,office1 and when exportation has been finally permitted make use of the momentary detention to enhance the merits of the object exported4 ,this trick has been practised to such an extent that1 particularly in ,america1 it is not unusual to hear an amateur extol some bit of rubbish with the remark1 8,it was stopped by the ,italian inspectors1 but my man managed to get it through by greasing the paw----0 ,an imitation of the work of ,bellano1 a bas-relief in clay1 was in custody at the ,export ,office and afterwards allowed to pass1 being recognized as modern4 ,this was quite enough to advertise the work as excellent1 so excellent that it was held up at the ,italian ,export ,office4 ,the bas-relief is now shown in the collection of a ,new ,york amateur1 and the romantic tale of the refused permit adds flavour and draws particular attention to the masterpiece1 and yet----6 ,this is more or less the dark side of the traffic in curios and the various questionable forces that many collectors call 8the black band40 ,as will be shown later1 the 8black band0 is a ,parisian expression1 denoting a more restricted field of activity4 ,how is the beginner to cope with such odds8 ,to become acquainted with the peculiar milieu to be avoided in the commerce of antiques requires time1 to learn to detect restorations and repairs1 we mean undue repairs1 is an art in itself that demands considerable experience4 ,to sum up1 while striving daily to become more efficient1 relying as little as possible on the help of others1 or knowing how to choose the right sort of aid1 it is most important to be circumspect1 to assume in principle that the beginner is likely to be duped at the start1 and to believe that there is more wisdom than people are ready to think in the advice of ,paul ,eudel1 ,soyez athes en objets d'art 7,be sceptical in art objects674 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,the ,,artistic ,,qualities ,,of ,,imitators ,sculptors--,a few notable examples--,bastianini's art and the adventures of his ,girolamo ,benivieni--,a modern imitation of ,renaissance art entered at a ,munich museum as a genuine antique --,the sculptor's art and method--,the ,verrocchio1 ,robbia and ,co41 ,ltd4--,signor ,natali's art and ,signor ,bonafedi's patina-- ,various methods of would-be makers of old masters--,painting --,the ,sienese imitative school--,mr4 ,salting's experience-- ,professor ,ezio ,marzi's imitation of the ,flemish school--,stone and ornamental work--,professor ,orlandini's art--,iron work-- ,weapons1 etc4 ,from the point of view of art1 the creator of 8finds10 the imitator of masterpieces1 and faker of sham 8chefs-d'uvre0 are not attractive personalities4 ,the value of their art--if it deserves so noble a title--is likely to vanish as soon as the scheme is detected and to leave us with something of the disillusionment experienced when viewing a set of stage scenery by broad daylight4 ,the simple imitator1 the man who honestly declares his work to be modern1 though of a higher moral standard than his comrade the forger1 is no more likely to win our admiration4 ,the difference between the two1 artistically speaking1 is that the one is apt to irritate us from the first1 the other only after we have been 8taken in10 the first cheats himself alone when he believes his patchwork to be good art1 the second is ready to deceive any and everyone who credits his artistic lies4 ,high above these two classes1 however1 stand a few gifted beings who seem to have actually imbibed the artistic qualities of ,renaissance art to such an extent as to have attained a new and genuine personality--modern in date but old and faithful to the past in creative conception4 ,in this case1 imitation becoming creative1 as we have said1 it rises to the rank of real art4 ,up to the present1 since ,bastianini's excellent work was first launched1 many of the imitators who followed and who have successfully duped museums and art lovers1 belong to the commonplace order4 ,their success is chiefly due to the deficiency and lack of practice among curators1 collectors and connoisseurs at large4 ,the more recent imitations that have deceived some of the most experienced eyes in ,florence1 ,munich and ,paris have revealed the names of two sculptors1 ,zampini and ,natali1 who apart from their imitative ability may1 like ,bastianini1 be studied and admired per se4 ,both these artists have some points in common with the sculptor who puzzled all the ,french connoisseurs of the ,second ,empire4 ,both1 like ,bastianini and other good and honest imitators1 have made the fortunes of others1 not their own2 like him1 too1 have sold their products as modern1 only to realize that as soon as believed antique they reached fabulous figures4 ,the portrait bust of ,girolamo ,benivieni--for which ,bastianini received #cej francs--was finally sold to the ,louvre for #ad1jjj francs4 ,before landing in the ,paris ,museum it had passed through the hands of ,freppa--a ,florentine antiquary--,nolives1 a connoisseur who travelled in ,italy in search of 8finds10 and ,nieuwerkerque1 ,princess ,mathilde ,bonaparte's all-powerful protg1 who was responsible for its acquisition by the ,museum4 ,this classic piece of fakery is worth recalling in all its details1 together with the stir succeeding ,bastianini's declaration of himself as the author of the ,benivieni bust and the humiliating figure cut by the officially recognized connoisseurs and art critics after the dnouement4 ,contrary to the general mode adopted by imitators and fakers of copying the various parts here and there from ,renaissance work1 welding them into a would-be tout ensemble of originality1 ,bastianini had so imbibed the character of the fifteenth century that he was able to work without immediate suggestions other than the influence of the recollections and skill he had acquired by copying from good old models in his preparatory period4 ,thus the work was done straight from nature1 the model chosen being an old man nicknamed the ,priore1 employed in a cigar factory4 ,when the clay was still fresh1 struck by the unusual ,renaissance style of the bust1 someone suggested the name by which it was finally christened1 and ,bastianini inscribed the words3 ,,hier,,mus ,,benivieni4 ,the name of ,girolamo ,benivieni1 ,savonarola's poet friend1 was in keeping with the austere features of the portrait1 and the modest employ of the ,florentine cigar factory well represented one of the most illustrious types of ,republican ,florence4 ,when ,nolives exhibited ,bastianini's work in #ahfg as a specimen of ,renaissance sculpture at the ,retrospective ,art ,show of the ,palais des ,champs lyses1 an influential art critic wrote3 8,we have not known ,benivieni1 but are prepared to swear that this portrait must be extremely like him4 ,who is the artist that modelled it8 ,we are almost tempted to label the work with a string of names from the glorious period of ,florentine art40 ,noting1 incidentally1 that the art critic's temptation to go through a long litany of names by way of attribution is simply delightful1 we may state that the illustrious writer was not the only one to be caught and duped by ,bastianini's capital work4 ,the supposititious ,girolamo ,benivieni had turned the heads of all the art intellectuals of ,paris4 ,later on1 when ,nolive's collection was put up to auction the bust was acquired1 as we have already stated1 by ,nieuwerkerque for the sum of #ac1fjj francs and was finally placed in the ,louvre ,museum4 ,it is said that1 believing the bust to be antique1 ,nolives wrote to ,bastianini bantering him upon his gross error in letting such a stupendous 8find0 slip from his hands4 ,finally the name of ,bastianini as the author of the bust leaked out4 ,admiration began to cool1 opinions as to the genuineness of the work were divided and a long polemic over the case ensued4 ,when ,bastianini1 up to then an obscure ,florentine artist1 finally declared in a letter sent to the ,diritto1 an ,italian newspaper1 that he himself was the author of the ,benivieni1 he was supposed to be an imposter4 ,among others to contest ,bastianini's assertion was the talented sculptor ,lequesne1 who went so far as to call the ,florentine artist a liar1 maintaining that the men who could mould clay into such forms as that of the bust were no more of this world1 having long since disappeared4 ,at the end of his invective against the ,florentine sculptor1 ,m4 ,lequesne swore that should ,bastianini be able to prove himself to be the sculptor of the ,benivieni1 he himself would be willing to serve such a sculptor1 if only to mix his clay4 ,it would be tedious to follow the long and spicy polemic from which ,bastianini was perforce to issue triumphantly4 ,pamphlets and articles were written on both sides1 ,bastianini himself taking part in the controversy and showing himself to be a wit worthy of those old ,florentines whom ,dante designates as having a 8spirito bizzarro40 ,irrefutable proofs--the first plaster-cast of the head which had been kept by the sculptor1 witnesses who had seen ,bastianini at work1 the assurance of the model and his true resemblance to the pseudo-,benivieni--cut short all possibility of further discussion4 ,the actual author of the ,renaissance bust that had puzzled the learned public of the ,french capital1 was beyond all doubt ,bastianini4 ,naturally this was not ,bastianini's first essay4 ,in the year #ahfd a bust by him1 an effigy of ,savonarola1 had been exhibited at the ,palazzo ,riccardi in ,florence4 ,this work1 too1 was taken for antique4 ,vincenzo ,capponi1 a ,florentine dealer1 secured it for #fdj francs and sold it for ten thousand4 ,another work1 a charming type of ,florentine youth1 a girl singing1 was sold to ,m4 douard ,andr of ,paris4 ,illustration3 ,,resurrection4 ,by ,signor ,ferrante ,zampini1 bought at ,munich as work of the ,x,vth ,century4 ,zampini was a clever ,italian artist1 who possessed the rare gift of imitating ,renaissance work4 ,he never deceived anyone with his imitations1 but his work passing through several hands eventually deceived the connoisseurs of the ,munich ,gallery4 ,illustration3 ,,piet4 ,by ,sig4 ,ferrante ,zampini4 ,bastianini's imitations are of such excellency that they are now held in high esteem by collectors and are bought by museums at extremely handsome prices4 ,the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum has one of the most complete collections of ,bastianini's art1 where the whole range of this genial imitator of the ,renaissance can be seen almost au complet4 ,signor ,ferrante ,zampini1 whose imitations deceived the museum of ,munich and many good connoisseurs and specialists1 worked with different methods4 ,the ,piet--the large lunette which together with other works deceived the art authorities of ,munich so completely--had passed in ,florence from the studio of ,ferrante ,zampini to the well-known atelier of ,signor ,bonafedi1 a painter of uncommon talent whose ability in colouring and in giving a proper patina to clay is unrivalled4 ,this work was afterwards sold 7for the sum of #abjj francs71 as modern1 to ,professor ,paolini1 a violinist1 who also sold it for modern to a ,german1 and finally1 through a string of collectors1 the ,piet landed in the ,munich ,museum for #ad1jjj francs4 ,it is said that the discovery of its modern authorship was due to a successful antiquary of ,florence1 a collector who has sharpened his natural alertness after a sad experience when he bought a bronze by a living ,german artist as ,quattrocento work1 and who is in a position to know more than one histoire through a regular network of informants4 ,on this occasion his informant1 it seems1 was close to hand in the person of his packer4 ,as for other antiquaries who had had no forewarning from kind informants1 they have been more or less taken in by ,signor ,zampini's works which have appeared now and then on the market since the year #aijd4 ,less exception seems to have been taken to the work of the other modern imitator1 ,signor ,natali4 ,his imitations1 made previously to his best one1 bought by the ,louvre ,museum1 appear to have travelled very far2 some of them are still in undisturbed enjoyment of honour as ,renaissance work in private collections4 ,ferrante ,zampini's first work was a portrait of a lady1 a finely executed head evidently made under the direct impression of those busts attributed to ,laurana1 those that ,courajod insisted upon calling death masks4 ,this piece1 however1 had no fortune in the world of antiques1 it travelled from place to place1 and finally1 as faithful as a carrier-pigeon1 returned to the man who had bought it from the sculptor4 ,a strikingly fine clay head followed4 ,it closely resembled the portrait of ,colleoni1 though giving the general of the ,venetian ,republic a more aged appearance than that of the equestrian statue in ,venice3 it was readily bought as a ,verrocchio4 ,since then ,zampini has produced several works of his peculiar art4 ,although they have realized large sums of money his own gains were but small4 ,a curious proof of ,zampini's excellence in imitating the ,quattrocento is given by the following incident4 ,a ,french collector bought from a ,florentine dealer a genuine piece of ,renaissance1 and a work by ,zampini4 ,after taking the two purchases to ,paris the collector sent back the real article as a fake1 keeping the ,zampini bust as a recognized authentic object of art4 ,a ,munich princess possesses one of the finest works of our sculptor which still defies all evidence--even now after the ,munich disclosures have enlightened the ,bavarian connoisseurs4 ,professor ,x4 of ,florence1 a connoisseur whose ability is beyond question and whose experience is highly esteemed among art lovers1 bought a clay bust by ,zampini1 believing it to be work of the fourteenth century4 ,some time after he had transferred the object to his collection the clay began to peel off and show signs of the progressive scaling usually called sbullettare4#a #a 8,sbullettare0 signifies the scaling of terra-cotta by which it becomes full of little holes1 as though pitted by small-pox4 ,the word is derived from bulletta 7a nail or tack71 the poor victim looking as though nails had been roughly drawn out4 ,zampini1 it must be said1 often uses ,impruneta clay 7that used by della ,robbia71 and he was not aware that to prevent scaling--a phenomenon that may set in months after the work is baked--this peculiar earth must be moistened as soon as it leaves the oven4 ,had this been done the work would have been saved that curious scaling which in the end told the truth about the bust4 ,but for this unforeseen circumstance the work might still be playing its part in the world of antiques4 ,professor ,x41 however1 knew that antique busts are not liable to suffer from this peculiar kind of small-pox and called the go-between who had helped in the conclusion of the business and a friend who had shared his admiration and to them he confided his suspicions4 ,the bust then disappeared for some time4 ,later1 however1 the same friend of ,professor ,x4 who had admired the bust before it began to scale1 was called in to admire it again in the collection of ,professor ,y41 another noted connoisseur1 who had bought it as antique4 ,for reasons of his own1 possibly so as not to spoil the new owner's pleasure1 the friend did not reveal the secret of the make-up4 ,but ,impruneta clay seemed determined the truth should become manifest to all1 in spite of circumstances4 ,within a few days the work that had already been attributed to ,verrocchio by the new owner1 began to peel once more1 and the secret of its modern date was revealed a second time4 ,professor ,y41 who is an honest dealer and a connoisseur of such ability as to be able to afford a blunder without loss of a well-deserved reputation1 laughed at the clever joke played upon him and buried the ,verrocchio in his cellar--the ,erebus to which all honest antiquaries relegate their bad bargains4 ,the bas-relief which has been bought by the ,louvre at a larger figure than any other recent acquisition of this nature1 is the work of a young sculptor1 ,natali1 a ,florentine who has lately emerged as a clever imitator of the ,renaissance4 ,the newspapers have already spoken of the last part played by the supposed ,verrocchio in the ,museum1 and the magnificent sum paid for it4 ,what is not generally known is that the curator's eyes were opened--wisdom and knowledge are often wakened in this way6--by an anonymous letter written from an aggrieved would-be partner in the affair who had been1 as it were1 8cut off with a shilling0 in the handsome transaction4 99 99 99 99 99 ,though ,bastianini1 ,zampini and ,natali seem to exploit a common field and to work with identical aims1 they so essentially differ in the quality and character of their work as to deserve a brief comparison4 ,bastianini1 who flourished when connoisseurship was yet without the powerful aid of photography1 appears in some way at a disadvantage when compared with the others1 and this although his qualities as a modern sculptor1 even though academic1 were perhaps of a more solid character than theirs4 ,apart from his ,benivieni1 his ,savonarola bust and a few heads of aged people in which the sculptor reveals his best and strongest qualities as an imitator of the ,quattrocento1 his work is of a perplexed and1 consequently1 weaker nature4 ,we very much doubt whether some of his female heads now in the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum could deceive in these days even a mediocre connoisseur4 ,in ,bastianini's minor works one is likely to find the explanation of this curious artistic temperament--he was a lover of modern life and prided himself upon cooking macaroni fit to make a ,neapolitan blush1 he claimed to be the best ball player 7giocatore di pallone7 of his day and could pass from modern art to antique imitations with a facility that astonishes us4 ,in his less important works an oscillating mind is evident1 swinging like a pendulum between modern and antique art4 ,it is clear that the two artistic personalities worked alternately in ,bastianini's mind1 leaving no deep or permanent impression4 ,this artist's imitations1 consequently1 bear every symptom of immediate suggestion--fugitive impressions cleverly caught and blended into a surprisingly harmonious whole1 thanks to his uncommon skill in modelling4 ,it is this happy tout ensemble 7summing up of qualities and circumstances7 that raised the artist above the level of the obvious imitator1 more especially when modelling certain heads the character of which would seem to tally with the original impression--some early souvenir or first work in copying maybe--he had received from the masters of the ,renaissance4 ,with ,ferrante ,zampini the artistic evolution is somewhat reversed4 ,a man of taciturn disposition1 inclined to dream and of mystic tendencies1 he must have cogitated1 loved and longingly caressed his idea before giving it form4 ,rebelling against any academic yoke it was not long before he began an intercourse of sentiment with the work of the past1 questioning those old masters as to the reason why their sentiment should clash with scholastic tuition4 ,he must have actually saturated his mind with old forms before taking up the modelling stick4 ,to see him working without a model1 without a suggestion even to aid his creation1 made one almost believe that through some mesmeric power the soul of an old master had passed into his own1 and that he was enjoying at the moment all the glorious freedom of irresponsibility4 ,thus while ,bastianini worked in a well-lighted studio1 filled with plaster-casts of the creations of ,verrocchio1 ,pollajuolo and other great masters1 ,zampini models in a small room1 working in the faintest of lights1 surrounded by bare grey walls4 ,with blinds almost drawn1 this sculptor holds that he can dominate the masses with security and be in closer touch with his vision4 ,perhaps the great unity of his work really is due in part to this unusual method of modelling1 a method which1 while it permits him to detect errors of mass1 and to correct the general lines of composition1 at the same time harmonizes into a happy ensemble the characteristics of the older style he imitates4 ,it may be said also that while ,bastianini rarely attempted compositions in bas-relief1 confining his main work of imitation to heads1 ,zampini boldly attacks the difficulties of large bas-reliefs and grouped figures4 ,though ,zampini's works vaguely suggest reminiscences--either in composition or in form--this sculptor must be credited with an unusual power of synthesis1 and we are not surprised that the ,munich authorities were deceived by his art4 ,natali's workmanship is of a different nature4 ,this young artist--the author of the ,baptism1 the lunette bought by the ,louvre as a work of ,verrocchio--shows great versatility even when not imitating the old masters1 and he is1 above all1 a virtuoso--a true product of ,latin facility4 ,but it must be added that while the lunette of the ,louvre shows happy composition1 with charming details here and there in its interpretation1 it does not possess the intimate qualities1 the essential unity1 of ,zampini's work4 ,the latter may be taken for ,verrocchio or not1 according to the ability or appreciation of the critic2 but ,natali's lunette might be modernized as 8,verrocchio and ,co410 or 7since in the angels the manner of ,andrea ,robbia alternates with ,verrocchio7 we might even go a step further and describe the composite result as 8,verrocchio1 ,robbia and ,co41 ,ltd40 ,not only because ,natali occupies a room in ,bonafedi's studio1 and appears to work under this artist's supervision--at least it was so when we had occasion to study the work of this excellent imitator--but direct from the work in the lunette of the ,baptism one feels inclined to look on this young artist as endowed with the defects and good qualities of a painter indulging in plastic work4 ,the composition1 for instance1 harmonious and rich1 with a happy suggestion of light and shade1 lacks the directness of form peculiar to sculptors1 and the modelling shows here and there--and this even considering the task the artist has imposed upon himself of imitating ,quattrocento work--the flatness and dryness of a painter who models without plastic insight or preoccupation4 ,these characteristics1 these pictorial qualities which are not to be seen in ,signor ,natali's modern work1 are perhaps the disguise with which he sometimes veils his touch--the touch of a modern sculptor4 ,though admiring this excellent imitation1 we must say we are surprised at the fact that it was not sooner detected as modern work4 ,from ,bonafedi1 a painter possessing great facility in execution and uncommon versatility as an imitator1 the mere association of ideas easily leads one to the ,siena imitators who have for years held the privilege of being the strongest imitators of early ,quattrocento work4 ,joni and others have1 unwittingly1 deceived more than one connoisseur4 ,one of these ,sienese products was bought by ,mr4 ,salting for twenty thousand lire4 ,there is no doubt that the imitation bought by ,mr4 ,salting as work of the old ,sienese school is one of the best that modern ,siena has ever produced4 ,yet anyone already acquainted with that kind of work1 and who had seen at least one specimen out of the many that have met with good success among unguarded collectors1 would not have found it difficult to detect the first-rate imitation that so triumphantly entered the ,salting collection4 ,it is said that ,mr4 ,salting got his money back1 and the painting was returned to the dealer2 a remarkable occurrence and a proof of good faith1 as usually when the collector finds he has been duped and is not disposed to keep it quiet1 the vendor is either not to be found or he has taken prudent measures and good care to be on the safe side legally4 ,in our opinion the drawing of the ,sienese imitator is too caligraphic1 it reproduces too closely1 namely1 the forms of well-known originals1 and this while the composition is not always free from plagiarisms that are too easily recognizable4 ,some of the later artists of ,florence1 and elsewhere1 have broadened the technique1 appearing less servile because better versed in the qualities of the old masters1 and through this deeper insight their work is more convincing and synthetic4 ,one of these characteristic workers is ,professor ,ezio ,marzi of ,florence1 an imitator of the ,dutch school1 who has never sold his panels as antique1 but whose work1 it is said1 through others1 has penetrated into more than one collection1 where it is held to be genuine and above suspicion4 ,his ,teniers1 now honoured as such1 are many1 and if ,marzi instead of being stationary in ,florence like most of his compatriots who1 generally speaking1 never travel1 should indulge in one of those erratic trips of which ,americans are so fond1 visiting collections here and there1 he would have good cause to laugh in his sleeve4 ,like many of his ,italian brothers of the brush1 ,ezio ,marzi has eclectic tendencies and a most versatile workmanship4 ,but what places him apart from his confrres who also imitate the art of the past1 is the fact that when he chooses to be ,ezio ,marzi in his painting1 that is to say to paint something of his own1 giving a true expression of his own personality1 he can do so without infection from reminiscences of his workmanship as an imitator4 ,in a word1 ,marzi is a painter of mark1 extremely original and fully temperamental--a rare thing among imitators of other people's art4 ,as regards his plagiaristic indulgences1 he has tried the most varied and dissimilar schools of the past1 successfully too4 ,his preference1 however1 for ,dutch or ,flemish art has finally prevailed4 ,possibly at his first essays ,marzi was the obvious sort of imitator1 servile to direct suggestion of form1 disguising artistic thefts from old masters by the usual well-matched mosaic1 but now this inevitable preparatory period is dismissed and surpassed4 ,when imitating ,teniers this artist is really composing ,dutch scenes without a scrap of suggestion in his studio4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait4 ,an imitation of ,dutch ,school by ,prof4 ,ezio ,marzi an ,italian artist1 who does his work with no apparent sense of plagiarism1 but who is so versatile in ,dutch ,school that but for his honest dealing he might prove a danger to amateurs4 ,while ,marzi affords us a good type of the imitator in painting and ,bastianini and ,zampini show us the best possibilities of assumed characters in sculpture1 ,professor ,orlandini of ,florence imitates ,quattrocento ornamental sculpture with capital results4 ,we can repeat here the same comment passed on ,marzi's art3 his works1 too1 are sold as modern1 but1 alas1 how many ornamental chimneypieces and would-be aged lavabos now decorating rooms1 are ,orlandini's work1 although ostentatiously shown as pure productions of the ,renaissance4 ,not so pure1 though1 always1 for ,professor ,orlandini is at times forced to fall in with the customer's ambition and thus allows himself to give full play to over-ornamentation1 producing a sort of ,quattrocento usus ,americanus4 ,still1 when left to his own artistic bent we know of no one who can turn out of the ,fiesole stone an aristocratic-looking chimneypiece more closely resembling the work of ,desiderio da ,settignano4 ,as a brief observation it may be added that ,professor ,orlandini is a sculptor of the old school who deals chiefly with hard materials4 ,this fact greatly contributes to give his art that stern sobriety of line that is a characteristic mark of the ,renaissance artist4 ,in the present flood of imitations it has been urged that honest artists should put their signatures to their modern antiques1 thus preventing the danger represented by imitations when launched on the market by able imposters4 ,there are a few who do sign their productions1 but we must say such an act does not win the deserved success4 ,the buyer seems to demand a certain amount of illusion which would inevitably be destroyed by a signature in full sight4 ,besides1 supposing that to prevent any possible fakery all imitators should decide to sign their work1 what guarantee would such a movement represent8 ,nothing is easier to erase than a signature on a painting1 and so far as a sculptor is concerned it is a baby trick to cover the artist's mark4 ,commerce has its risks1 risks placing an elective stigma on any enterprise1 rendering it more difficult and eliminating the incapable4 ,in our artistic milieu such risks are doubled1 thus while 8imitation10 and its black sister 8faking10 represent a formidable danger1 they also1 through the said magnified risk1 confer upon the elect ones1 the true connoisseurs1 the exclusiveness of an aristocratic caste4 ,and yet1 unlike the beginner1 these superior beings who have in a way learned through experience how to cope with dangerous odds repeat with ,bonnaff3 8,do not trust the collector who never makes a mistake4 ,the strongest is he who makes the fewest mistakes40 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,fakers1 ,,forgers ,,and ,,the ,,law ,faking and fakers--,views of art forgers--,too great a productiveness aids the exposure of fakers--,the chink in the armour of silence and mystery--,collector's view of the dangerous trade in counterfeited objects--,laws and tribunals-- ,grotesque cases in court--,m4 ,chasles' autographs--,a collector who lacks a ,rameses--,the faker for gain and the one for fun-- ,some moral considerations on fabricators of modern antiques4 ,moral considerations apart1 the faker of objects for collections is far more interesting a personage than some of his duped victims4 ,his artistic personality separates him from the commoner class1 the peculiarity of his trade1 while not redeeming the disreputableness of his conduct1 confers upon him the poetical nimbus of art and mystery1 just as an undefined feeling of heroism or chivalry may1 to an imaginative mind1 turn an old-fashioned brigand into a classical type of buccaneer4 ,these mute workers1 who actually earn their money by false pretences1 deluding and deceiving with callous energy in what a commercial mind might call 8their line of business10 are not infrequently people of scruples and probity in all other respects1 men to whom credit might be given with safety4 ,as we have stated before1 the collector is partially responsible if excellent imitators sometimes turn into fakers4 ,ask the forger how it was that he became such1 and nine times out of ten you will either hear that he was tired of seeing others make indecent profits out of his work1 or that he was prompted by the consideration that there were fools ready to pay ten times the value of his work1 provided he did not claim authorship1 and would pretend his work was antique4 ,curiously enough1 when questioned about the beginning of their fraudulent profession1 some will speak of their transition from honesty to dishonesty with the reticence of a woman gone astray2 others1 perhaps the larger number1 are boastful and inclined to glory in the success accorded to their fakes4 ,la ,rochefoucauld has written in his ,maximes that it is easier to deceive oneself than others4 ,the vaunting class of fakers have somewhat reversed the terms of this saying1 their common tenet being that it is easier to cheat others than to cheat oneself4 ,this maxim1 however1 gives the faker undue confidence and a too prolific activity in creating sham masterpieces1 and eventually contributes to the exposure of his fraud and the final ruin of what he considers1 and what has proved to be1 a most remunerative business4 ,many discoveries of falsified chefs-d'uvre are due to over-productiveness of the faker4 ,his self-confidence augmenting his activity to alarming proportions1 it naturally increases the probability of discovery4 ,however1 the faker is perforce a close-mouthed fellow1 always on his guard and very rarely taken1 as one might say1 by surprise4 ,nevertheless he too possesses what might be called in fanciful metaphor the ,achilles' vulnerable spot where his silence may be attacked3 it is his pride that must be tickled4 ,it was an aim of mine in the past to trace forgery in art to its origin4 ,not exactly as a hobby but in the belief that in these days it is important to know how works of art are imitated and faked1 that it is part of modern connoisseurship in fact4 ,to-day one must learn how to detect forgeries just as one must learn how to admire genuine art4 ,forgery museums1 intelligently organized1 would be far more interesting--and more original--to-day than the various galleries of fine arts4 ,on more than one occasion after having traced the forger1 the above system of flattering his vanity has extorted an unexpected confidence4 ,to give an instance3 some time ago the ,italian market began to be infested by good imitations of bronze figures of the type of the ,paduan school4 ,an antiquary1 from whom ,i have the story1 traced the forger to ,modena and called upon the fellow whom he held in suspicion4 ,at first he had no clue1 but finally1 becoming friendly1 he happened to surprise a confession from him under the following circumstances4 ,it must be noted that a faker will talk freely on the subject of forgery1 never presuming to be discovered and always as an outsider4 ,speaking of imitations1 the antiquary expressed his surprise at the sure modelling and most convincing patina of some recent imitations he had seen4 ,he explained that the imitation was really so good that he himself had been deceived by a small group representing a nymph and satyr4 ,circumstances alone had saved him at the last moment from being taken in and giving his opinion by attributing the bronze to ,andrea ,briosco4 ,the piece to be sure was convincing enough to pass for one of the best works ,briosco ever conceived4 ,it was really worth the extravagant sums collectors are willing to pay for ,briosco's piece1 called il ,riccio1 even though it was modern4 8,perhaps it was worth it10 remarked the artist with the characteristic rebellious accent peculiar to successful fakers4 ,this first burst of self-pride1 properly nourished by the other with eulogies of the great artist who had modelled the group1 drew forth the desired disclosure4 ,when the antiquary remarked3 8,that group ought to bring a big price4 ,if collectors were not1 generally speaking1 so utterly deprived of true artistic sense1 if they were not----0 8,such a pack of fools and snobs10 interrupted the artist4 ,the chink in the armour of silence was now discovered4 ,though without giving a hint as to his craft or the recipe of his wonderful patina1 upon promise of silence with regard to his name1 he proudly acknowledged authorship of the bronze group supposed to be of the school of ,padua1 and finally offered to show other pieces ready to enter the world of fakes1 finished and ready to go and play the part of masterpieces of the ,renaissance4 ,when the artist was asked how he managed to dispose of his faked goods1 he averred that that part of the business belonged to the dealer4 ,a specialist like himself1 he said1 had nothing to do with that side4 ,the only compact he had made was with his own conscience1 being perfectly aware that he was handsomely paid and that his agent realized three times as much4 ,according to him1 even museums were buying spurious works of art1 and labelling them with pompous attributions1 knowing all the while that they were not authentic4 ,we quote this as a mere incident to show the view and supercilious attitude taken by the faker with regard to his art4 ,incidentally and from the same source came the information that some well-imitated octagonal tables that had fetched high prices in the antique furniture market as real ,quattrocento work were made in ,bologna1 and that the old patina and blunt corners were acquired by real use1 the tables being lent for a time to cheap restaurants and the shops of sausage-dealers4 ,the bronze faker of ,modena possessed one of these tables which showed a casual knife cut and the abuse of age4 ,to make the piece more handsomely suggestive1 upon the top of the table there had been roughly scratched with a nail a square of the geometrical lines of the old game of 8,filetto40 ,one could easily work up one's fancy before that perpetrated abuse and imagine crowds of lansquesnets or inveterate dice-throwers4 ,when asked why he did not put his signature to such excellent work as his1 that it would certainly be valued on its own merits1 he shook his head and repeated the refrain so often heard from successful fakers that the time of the old-fashioned intelligent and art-loving collectors had passed1 that collecting was nowadays nothing but a fad1 that the modern collector is only a pretender4 ,in proof of his assertion he referred to the then recent incident4 8,see what happened to ,donatello's puttino in ,london40 ,for those who may have forgotten the incident1 we will recall how a little bronze statue by ,donatello was vainly offered for sale to the ,london dealers4 ,this statue was missing from the baptistery of ,san ,francesco of ,siena4 ,the statuette represented a puttino 7boy7 and1 hardly a foot high1 had been stolen from the church at ,siena in the beginning of the nineteenth century4 ,it mysteriously found its way to ,london1 where it was in all probability buried and forgotten in some private collection for three-score years or more4 ,when the forgotten statue suddenly emerged from its nook of oblivion it was offered for sale simply as an old bronze1 but being taken for a modern imitation it fetched no decent price4 ,a ,bond ,street specialist refused it at two thousand francs4 ,the ,donatello was finally bought for #ab1jjj francs by the ,berlin ,museum1 this being about the fiftieth part of its present value4 ,it is curious to hear the various opinions entertained by collectors and art lovers concerning faking and its alarming and increasing success4 ,an old collector who had1 no doubt like so many of his colleagues1 learned his lesson through being duped1 unhesitatingly declared that faking is a grand art with a reason for existence as it seems to meet a real need of society1 the need of being1 as it were1 deluded and cheated by elegance4 ,queer ethics answering to the ,latin saying3 ,vulgus vult decipi1 ergo decipiatur 7,the crowd likes to be deceived1 let it be deceived674 ,a former curator of the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum used to pay due tribute to the art of good imitators and fakers1 who had succeeded in deceiving the vigilant eye of the guardians of museums1 by stating that imitations are really too good to be mistaken for antiques1 much better1 indeed1 than some of the examples of the art they would falsify4 ,the really experienced collector is inclined to look upon faking as a huge joke to be played on greenhorns and the inexperienced1 even although some of the silent torpedoes of faking do triumphantly succeed in hitting people who are iron-clad with knowledge4 ,novices take two opposite views of the matter4 ,one class is positively ashamed of having been 8taken in10 and hides the fact by concealing the proof of his ignorance in a dark corner of the house2 the other1 viewing the deception in a more business-like way1 has recourse to the courts with more or less happy results4 ,the latter class is naturally inclined to favour the greatest possible severity of the law4 ,in some of the cases in which the tribunals are called upon to pass judgment1 one is inclined to wonder whether in pronouncing a severe sentence on the culprit1 the magistrates do not feel like laughing up their sleeve at the supine foolishness of the plaintiff4 ,the case of ,m4 ,chasles1 a celebrated and highly esteemed mathematician and member of the ,paris ,institut1 furnishes us with proof of how a man can be great in his own speciality1 yet likely to be taken in under peculiar and rather astonishing circumstances4 ,monsieur ,chasles had apparently taken to autograph-hunting1 one of the most dangerous pursuits a mere dilettante can dream of4 ,his career at the beginning was perhaps that of any other neophyte1 and except for the astonishing sequence1 might belong to the trite record of daily happenings on the unsafe side of curio-hunting4 ,the celebrated mathematician had hardly gathered his first autographs when to his misfortune he met with a certain ,vrain-,lucas1 an imposter whose talent fitted to perfection the over-trusting mathematician4 ,but for the documentary evidence of the trial 7quoted by ,paul ,eudel in his book1 ,le ,truquage71 it would be utterly incredible that anyone1 particularly a learned man1 could be gulled to such an extent4 ,yet on the #afth of ,february1 #ahfi1 ,monsieur ,chasles appeared before the ,paris ,court of ,justice as a plaintiff1 and the public discussion of the case--which ended in the condemnation of the defendant1 ,vrain-,lucas1 to two years' imprisonment and a fine of #ejj francs with costs--clearly divulged how the eminent professor had been the victim of le sieur ,vrain-,lucas1 a semi-learned man of unquestionable talent and a stupendous and fertile power of invention4 ,for the total sum of #adj1jjj francs he had sold to his client would-be authentic autographs and pretended indisputable original manuscripts--really the most extraordinary pieces a collector ever dreamt of6 ,among other things there was included3 a private letter of ,alexander the ,great addressed to ,aristotle2 a letter of ,cleopatra to ,julius ,csar1 informing the ,roman ,dictator that their son 8,cesarion0 was getting on very well2 a missive of ,lazarus to ,st4 ,peter2 also a lengthy epistle addressed to ,lazarus by ,mary ,magdalen4 ,it should be added that the letters were written in ,french and in what might be styled an eighteenth-century jargon1 that ,alexander addressed ,aristotle as ,mon ,ami and ,cleopatra scribbled to ,csar3 ,notre fils ,cesarion va bien4 ,lazarus1 no less a scholar in the ,gallic idiom1 and to whom1 maybe1 a miraculous resurrection had prompted a new personality1 writes to ,st4 ,peter in the spirit of a rhetorician and a prig1 speaking of ,cicero's oratory and ,csar's writings1 getting excited and anathematic on ,druidic rites and their cruel habit de sacrifier des hommes saulvaiges4 ,mary ,magdalen1 who begins her letter with a mon trs aim frre ,lazarus1 ce que me mandez de ,petrus l'apostre de notre doux ,jesus1 is supposed to be writing from ,marseilles and thus would appear to be the only one out of the many who can logically indulge in ,french1 the jargon-bouillabaisse that ,vrain-,lucas lent to the gallant array of his personages4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,child4 ,by ,donatello1 whose taste in statuary was chiefly formed in ,rome4 ,after such a practical joke played on the excellent good faith of ,m4 ,chasles1 some of the other autographs seem tame4 ,the package1 however1 also contained scraps jotted down by ,alcibiades and ,pericles1 a full confession of ,judas ,iscariot's crime written by himself to ,mary ,magdalen before passing the rope round his neck2 a letter of ,pontius ,pilate addressed to ,tiberius expressing his sorrow for the death of ,christ4 ,other astounding pieces of this now famous collection were3 a passport signed by ,vercingetorix1 a poem of ,abelard and some love-letters addressed by ,laura to ,petrarch1 as well as many other historical documents down to a manuscript of ,pascal and an exchange of letters between the ,french scientist and ,newton on the laws of gravitation1 the ,frenchman claiming the discovery as his own4 ,the latter manuscript caused a memorable polemic between the savants of ,london and ,paris1 a regular tournament of clever arguing among the scholars of the two countries1 which finally led to the discovery of the huge fraud of which ,m4 ,chasles was the assigned but unresigned victim4 ,the chance way the imposture was exposed makes one wonder how it was possible for the case to have the honour of serious discussion among scientists4 ,among other historical blunders is the supposition that ,newton could have exchanged letters with ,pascal on the laws of gravitation4 ,the former being but nine years old when ,pascal died1 he had certainly not yet given his mind to the observations bringing about his marvellous discovery4 ,further1 as an example of gravitation1 ,pascal relates that he has noticed how in a cup of coffee the bubbles are attracted toward the edge of the receptacle4 ,it is known that coffee was imported into ,france some nine years after the death of the great ,french philosopher and mathematician4 ,leaving the man who does really artistic work we are now introduced to the majority of the class1 mere fabricators of artistic pastiches1 which notwithstanding complete absence of meritorious qualities are nevertheless effective decoys for unwary art lovers4 ,to this legion belong1 of course1 the most mediocre painters and sculptors1 those whose chief cunning lies in the transference of age to their modern fabrications4 ,they are guided in their work mostly by a considerable amount of practice in restoring old paintings1 marbles1 stuccoes1 and so forth4 ,there is also a peculiar type of impostor who plays his tricks solely for the fun of it1 a curious type who for the joy of having cheated some one1 will deny himself the pleasure of revealing his name and glory in his success4 ,to this stamp must have belonged ,m4 ,a4 ,maillet1 a distinguished chemist who in #ahfd took the trouble to publish a book on antediluvian excavations1 for no other purpose evidently than to fool scholars given to that particular study4 ,needless to say the volume met with astonishing success4 ,among reproductions of genuine antediluvian relics1 the eminent chemist interspersed his writing with spurious and fantastic illustrations of pretended finds of his own invention4 ,they consisted of carved bones with figures1 symbols and mysterious writings4 ,to say that no polemic or learned appreciation of the volume followed its publication would be to slander the too easily kindled enthusiasm of learned specialists4 ,as usual the polemic revealed the true character of the volume1 but before reaching its conclusion there was more than one reputation sullied and more than one scientist who lost caste4 ,the perplexity and chaotic confusion caused by the publication was felt by ,m4 ,a4 ,maillet to be ample recompense for his labour and expense4 ,the jovial faker1 who is out solely for the fun of making game of some one1 is no modern invention4 ,notably in ,italy it is not uncommon to find a ,greek or ,latin inscription1 traced centuries ago1 with no apparent purpose than that of puzzling posterity1 or putting historians off the scent4 ,this would seem to be a still more remarkable form of faking1 as the author not only derives no profit whatever from his trouble1 but is not at all likely to be present to enjoy the result of his dupery4 ,even among these mysterious helpers of the trade in curios--those who work for their living--they are rarely deprived of that facetious spirit that gives them a relish for some brilliant case of deception4 ,their joy is not wholly permeated by venal considerations4 ,there is no question but that some fakers go to work like true sportsmen4 ,hearing them boast1 or describe some of their successful comedies in which they have been author1 actor and manager all in one1 it is not difficult to deduce that the only genuine thing to spur their imagination and activity is the desire to cheat any and everybody willing to be convinced by them or their work4 ,the chief characteristics of some of these comedies1 which often necessitate the help of the faker's bosom friend1 the dealer or go-between1 are pluck and an uncommon knowledge of the psychology of collectors4 ,in more than one instance psychology would appear to have actually made the impossible become possible4 ,the story of the forged ,rameses is still floating as a tradition in the gossipy world of antiquities in ,paris4 ,in his work1 ,le ,truquage1 ,paul ,eudel relates the anecdote in all its amusing detail4 ,a ,parisian collector was1 it seems1 the happy owner of the most complete collection of ,egyptian fine art objects4 ,not a specimen was missing apparently4 ,but1 as ,eudel observes1 8,is a collector ever ready to call his collection complete80 ,a collection is like a literary work which never seems to go beyond the 8preface10 and there is no limit to it4 ,the collector in question had1 however1 set his limit1 deciding that his collection might be considered complete as soon as he had secured one of those serene-looking1 colossal ,egyptian statues with which to ornament and complete the courtyard of the mansion housing his collection4 ,to be rich1 to have a fixed desire and to blazen forth one's particular hobby is a dangerous combination of ingredients in the world of curio-dealing1 especially with the ever-ready and active faker close to hand4 ,to gratify this collector's hobby an informant turned up one day to report that near ,thebes a splendid statue of heroic proportions had been discovered4 ,it was said to be the effigy of a ,rameses in all its impassive beauty4 ,having knowledge of the collector's penchant the informant's agent in ,egypt had kept back the secret of the discovery4 ,in this way the collector was given the first refusal1 the statue was all ready to be shipped1 the whole at the reasonable price of a hundred thousand francs4 ,as usual the proposal was accompanied with convincing documents1 stamped letters1 descriptive memoranda and so forth4 ,within view of a long-desired ornament1 the collector was easily induced to take part in the transaction to be carried on with the usual secrecy1 upon the condition that the statue should be taken straight to his house on its arrival1 and in such a way as to preclude all knowledge on the part of others4 ,anyone unacquainted with the psychology of collectors--something that never happens to fakers--might be inclined to imagine that the schemer would try to hasten the conclusion of the business so elaborately planned1 for fear the buyer might change his mind or have his eyes opened in some way4 ,but our man knew that the collector would speak to no one1 lest he might lose the rare chance offered him1 and also that the longer the delay1 the more obstacles met with or surmounted1 the keener would he become to possess the exceptional 8find40 ,finally1 when the arrival of the statue was announced and it reached the ,paris railway station in due time1 the collector1 suspicious and afraid like all true art lovers1 insisted that it should be conveyed to his house by night4 ,after so much picturesque mystery the dnouement came1 as usual1 too late and in the most banal manner4 ,the fraud was exposed on the very day of the exhibition1 and the enraged collector started an energetic search for the culprits1 but the birds had flown--he only found the empty cage1 namely the atelier in a neighbouring street where his ,rameses had been given birth4 ,the debris of the would-be ,oriental granite still strewed the floor4 8,sic transit----0 ,the faker and the forger are not prone to repentance4 ,vrain-,lucas1 who had made himself notorious by cheating ,m4 ,chasles1 had hardly regained his liberty after serving his term before he was again called to answer for another fraud4 ,for a poor provincial priest he had falsified a whole genealogical tree4 ,paul ,eudel relates of one ,oriental faker who proved himself as impenitent as resourceful4 ,clever and gifted with the peculiar shrewdness of the ,oriental1 he made his first coup by selling to the ,german ,emperor some ,moabite pottery which had certainly never been on the shores of the ,jordan nor on the coast of the ,dead ,sea4 ,this clever piece of trickery was recently discovered by the eminent ,orientalist ,m4 ,clermont-,ganneau4 ,back in ,jerusalem and silent for a time1 he next appeared in ,europe offering the savants a most astonishing relic4 ,quite unabashed by the exposure of the ,moabite pottery1 he went straight to ,berlin to offer some old passages of the ,bible of most authentic character4 ,they were written on narrow strips of leather supposed to have been found on a mummy4 ,scholars examined the precious relics with care and silently concluded to decline to enter into the bargain4 ,the precious document1 though evidently forged1 had been falsified on a piece of very old leather1 the only part unquestionably aged4 ,the surprising part was that the culprit was not at all discouraged by the first collapse of his scheme but went to ,london1 where he offered his ,biblical find to the ,british ,museum for the trifling sum of a million pounds sterling4 ,the plan very nearly succeeded4 ,daily papers became excited over the discovery of the rare ,moabite manuscript1 a document dating from at least the eighth or ninth century before ,christ4 ,the learned ,dr4 ,ginsburg1 who set himself to the task of deciphering the obscure and indistinct characters of the worn-out leather strips1 recognized in them a fragment of the fifth book of the ,pentateuch4 ,when ,m4 ,clermont-,ganneau came to examine the document he declared it for many reasons to be a daring forgery4 ,apart from the fact that the strips could not have enwrapped a mummy1 as neither ,hebrews nor ,phnicians had the custom of embalming their dead1 the leather said to have been found in ,palestine could hardly have withstood for so long the action of a damp climate4 ,such preservation would only be possible in the dry climate of the desert or some one of the favoured parts of ,egypt4 ,it was discovered at the same time that the strips of the famous manuscript had been cut from a piece of leather some two centuries old--the erased original characters still being traceable--upon which the ,biblical fragments had been copied in the ,moabite alphabet4 ,the artist with a vaster range and wider scope for duping is1 without doubt1 the one working on artistic frauds1 as the proportion stands at one collector of manuscripts to a thousand art collectors4 ,it is immaterial to him whether he meets specialists or eclectics in this large field--they are all good game4 ,the facility with which he is thus able to dispose of his wares makes him still more refractory to reform4 ,silent1 often obscure1 always mysterious1 he claims for his activity what must appear to him a noble justification3 he paradoxically believes himself to be a real factor of his client's happiness4 ,but for him some of the collectors would find it tremendously difficult to possess masterpieces1 and if they die happy without realizing that they have been fooled1 where is the difference8 ,after all1 in this fool's paradise they are happy and undisturbed--so very few realize either that they have been totally duped by a fake or partially cheated by over-restoration4 ,most of the modern collectors too often resemble that type of art lover3 444 ,qui croit tenir les pommes d',hesperides ,et presse tendrement un navet sur son coeur4#b #b 44 3 ,who thinks he holds the apples of the ,hesperides ,whilst pressing tenderly a turnip to his heart4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,the ,,faked ,,atmosphere ,,and ,,public ,,sales ,the art of producing a faked atmosphere--,private sales of faked objects of art--,real and spurious noblemen as elements in creating the desired atmosphere for an antique--,the various and endless possibilities in private dealing--,public sales-- ,auction sales--,various characters among frequenters of public sales--,la ,bande ,noire--,the trick of the sale catalogue as a proof of authenticity1 etc4--,the part played in public sales by ,peter ,funk and the transformations of this helpful personage4 ,in most cases the art forger is provided with an indispensable accessory in the person of a co-worker who helps to dispose of the artist's questionable product advantageously4 ,this may be done by one agent or by many1 according to circumstances1 but the spirit of the mission is always the same1 to steep faking1 namely1 in another kind of fakery1 no less illusive and delusive1 the deception that serves to misguide judgment through false information about some particular object of art1 or to create a misleading suggestion around the work of art offered for sale4 ,the trick might be termed 8producing a faked atmosphere10 in plain words the creation of a false atmosphere of genuineness is an additional fakery to the success of a faked object of art or curio1 and it is a most multiform species of imposture and a very dangerous adjunct to the already deceptive trade4 ,so multifarious is the deception practised that an attempt to classify it in its diversity would probably fail to illustrate in full the metamorphoses of this supplement to the art of faking4 ,as this support to faking is chiefly concerned with the sale of objects of art1 our investigation can be broadly divided according to the kind of sale1 private or public1 the latter generally taking the form of an auction4 ,in private sales the limit is not so much set by the seller's conscience as his inventive powers1 and his more or less fertile imagination4 ,his method relies mainly on the power of suggestion brought about by false information or1 as we have said1 by the silent misleading glamour of a pseudo-environment4 ,the former works principally with the decoy of invented documents calculated to lend certain objects an appearance of historical worth1 or wrongly to magnify their artistic importance4 ,it is not always the documents that are fitted to the faked art1 sometimes the case is reversed and the artist creates work to fit a genuine document4 ,the same is done with signatures1 more especially in painting and sculpture4 ,there are all kinds of specialists in the world of faking who can imitate artists' signatures1 marks and so forth1 but1 alas1 it is not said that to a genuine signature our versatile and imaginative artist cannot supply a genial piece of fraud the only genuine part of which is represented by the signature4 ,this is often performed by painting over works that have been defaced1 either partially or completely1 and yet by some chance still bear the artist's signature in one corner--generally the least abused spot of a painting whether on canvas or panel4 ,the same trick is carried out with equal facility in sculpture4 ,to illustrate what at first sight would seem more complex than fitting a painting to a signature1 it is sufficient to recall the false ,clodion group1 sold in perfectly good faith by ,m4 ,maillet du ,boullay to ,mme4 ,boiss1 also a dealer1 whose experience1 like that of many others1 had a noisy sequel in ,court4 ,m4 ,maillet du ,boullay had bought the clay group some years previously4 ,the subject1 a satyr with a nymph1 was of the kind that the ,french call un peu leste4 ,for five years ,mme4 ,boiss found no buyer4 ,it was after this long period of actual possession that she discovered the clay statuette to be not by ,clodion but in all probability the work of a noted faker of ,clodions1 ,lebroc1 and that a small bit bearing the signature and date1 both by the hand of ,clodion1 had been cleverly inserted at the side of the group4 ,the line of the join had been concealed by colour and patina4 ,the purchase money1 however1 was not refunded as the ,court accepted the theory advanced by ,m4 ,senard1 acting for ,m4 ,boullay1 that ,mme4 ,boiss had after all enjoyed the possession of the group for five years and had perhaps put forward her claim because she had not been able to sell it on account of its objectionable character4 ,in the cases when the documents are the original ones and the work of art is not1 the artist naturally creates his work in accordance with the indications given in the documents4 ,the occurrence is not common1 but it has nevertheless taken place4 ,we have heard of a man ordering a portrait to be painted to fit a detailed description of one of his ancestors given in an old letter4 ,the ,florentine 8,prioristi0 and old diaries can well be used for the purposes of such suggestion4 ,an old family chronicle recorded a marriage with some detail1 sufficient at any rate to inspire an art counterfeiter to model a small bas-relief representing the scene4 ,when the work was suitably coated with old patina1 put into a sixteenth-century frame and an old worm-eaten board fastened to the back1 the authentic document was carefully pasted on as proof of genuineness4 ,possible combinations of this sort of scheme are endless and can be applied to almost every expression of curio-dealing4 ,what we have styled 8faking the milieu10 in order to enhance the value of a genuine article or to give additional effect to a falsified one1 trades upon the fact that a collector prefers to buy from a private house rather than a shop4 ,this often appeals to him as convincing proof that the article is genuine1 and it also appears to confer a higher value by comparison with the surroundings in a shop4 ,to humour this peculiar trait in the collector1 environments have been faked as well as objects of art1 and in the evil grand art we are illustrating they furnish to-day more often than not the proper dignity which aids highly profitable sales effected through private transaction4 ,when a work leaves the faker's hands there are many ways in which to give birth to the false and illusive dignity designed to lend importance and an air of genuineness4 ,one of the simplest methods is to provide the work with a respectable passport in the person of a patrician1 real or faked1 according to opportunities4 ,this decoy is prepared1 of course1 to swear that the object has been in his family for centuries4 ,when the mansion is really old and the family of ancient lineage1 success is practically assured4 ,how a man of noble birth can lend his name to such deception can only be explained by a form of degeneracy which1 unfortunately1 is not extremely rare in our times4 ,it is known to be practised with both genuine works and with forgeries4 ,in the former case it helps the command of an extravagant price1 that would never be reached in a shop or through the hands of a dealer2 in the latter1 working through suggestion1 it serves to dispel any lingering doubt from the buyer's mind4 ,when it appears difficult to bring off the deal1 in the case of forgery1 the object is taken to the country by preference and placed in some old villa or mansion with the connivance of a genuine nobleman1 who will receive a secret visit from the purchaser--all acts in the antiquarian world1 it must be remembered1 savour of mystery and secrecy--and play the dignified part of a member of a time-honoured family who collected works of art in years past4 ,a sham nobleman may also give himself out as ,count ,so-and-so and safely act the part for a day or even a few hours4 ,it must be borne in mind that this course of working by suggestion is very dangerous to the purchaser2 by its silent and convincing method art antiquaries of skill and veteran connoisseurs have been deceived4 ,another application of this deceptive scheme1 that relies on a favourable environment to help fraud1 is the sending of counterfeit objects to remote country places supposed to be unexplored4 ,this also is based upon a psychological peculiarity of some collectors1 who still hope and believe that there are yet unsearched regions in the world of antiques1 oases that have escaped the ever-vigilant eye of the trader4 ,as a matter of fact if anything like neglected corners exist where one may hope for a 8find10 they are in large cities1 such as ,paris or ,london1 particularly the latter1 where even ,italian antiquaries go at times to hunt for what it would be hopeless to seek in their own country4 ,be it understood1 the above two ways of disposing in private of pretended genuine antiquities are likely to be combined4 ,the nobleman who charitably houses the masterpiece that the amateur is after1 completes the stage-like effect of the hatched environment1 with sham documents1 etc4 ,among public sales it is1 as we have said1 the auction sale that offers the greatest possibilities to those who falsify an 8atmosphere0 to put the client on the wrong track so profitable to the faker4 ,as may readily be seen1 a false environment and any tampering with the elements that go to the formation of a right opinion as regards an objet d'art1 invariably lead not only to the acquisition of the wrong thing but to the payment of an exorbitant price for its worthlessness4 ,much that is amusing and that would bring home this point could be written on public sales4 ,enough to fill a bulky volume could be culled from what has taken place at the atrium auctionarium to the modern ,hotel ,drouot or the historical sale-room still extant and busy in ,london4 ,cicero tells us that one of the first auctions to be held in ,rome was the sale of property that ,sulla had seized from proscribed ,romans4 ,he also tells us with his usual rhetorical emphasis that all ,pompey's property was put up to auction and disposed of to the highest bidder by 8the prco's lacerating voice40 ,this great sale included a large portion of ,mithradates' treasure1 the catalogue of which cost thirty days' work to the ,roman officials who took the objects in charge4 8,at this sale10 adds ,cicero with redoubled emphasis1 8,rome forgot her state of slavery and freely broke into tears40 ,it may be1 but ,mark ,antony1 to be sure1 took advantage of this supposed public emotion and had all the valuable lots knocked down to himself at ridiculously low figures4 ,some of them1 it is said1 were never paid for at all by this audacious triumvir4 ,another famous auction sale in ,rome was that of ,juba1 king of ,numidia1 who left his treasure to ,rome in the time of ,tiberius4 ,caligula was his own auctioneer1 and in this way disposed of furniture in his imperial palace that he considered out of fashion4 ,his example was followed by ,marcus ,aurelius who sold in the public square dedicated to ,trajan the jewels and other precious objects forming part of ,hadrian's private effects4 ,in order to pay his troops1 ,pertinax put up to public auction all ,commodus' property1 a most confused medley of imperial effects1 an omnium gatherum ranging from the deceased emperor's gorgeous robes to the gladitorial array he used in the circus1 and from his court jester to his slaves4 ,perhaps the most remarkable part of the sale was ,commodus' original and interesting collection of coaches1 an odd assemblage that should have been capable of stirring even ,julius ,csar's blas mind1 who1 it is said used to attend sales in quest of emotion4 ,they afforded him a certain stimulation1 for ,suetonius speaks of him as rather a rash and unwise bidder4 ,caligula's coaches were of all kinds and shapes1 there were some for summer with complex contrivances to shelter from the sun and cool the air by means of ventilators1 and some for winter devised in such a way as to give protection from cold winds4 ,others were fitted with a device that would now be called a speedometer1 a contrivance for measuring the distance covered by the vehicle4 ,the mania for sales went so far with the ,romans that at the death of ,pertinax1 the empire itself was put up to auction and knocked down to the highest bidder1 ,didius ,julianus4 ,although not so complex as the modern houses of public sale1 the ,roman atrium auctionarium was not simplicity itself4 ,the original auction sales of the ,romans consisted of the disposal of war spoils to the highest bidder1 in the open air on the battlefield or in a square of some conquered city4 ,in order to indicate the spot where the sale was to take place a lance was driven into the ground4 ,the name of sub hasta was therefore given to these rudimentary auction sales1 which is the etymology of the ,italian word asta1 still used for auctions4 ,the tabul auctionari1 giving daily notice of the number and description of objects offered for sale1 were in some way the forerunners of the modern catalogue1 just as the prco must be considered as the ancestor of the auctioneer or1 maybe1 the crieur4 ,there were also amanuenses who wrote down prices and purchaser's name as each lot was sold4 ,martial tells of a curious incident at an auction in which a girl slave was offered for sale4 ,when the bidding failed to elicit a higher offer1 ,gellianus1 the celebrated auctioneer1 ended his eulogy of the beauty of the human merchandize by giving the young slave a couple of kisses4 8,what happened80 says ,martial in conclusion4 8,a buyer who had just made a bid of #fjj sesterces on the girl1 immediately withdrew his offer40 ,times are changed4 ,it is no longer a question of selling slaves in our modern atrium auctionarium1 but the auction room itself has nevertheless remained about the same1 a great place of interest1 an assemblage of types such as old ,tongilius1 ,licinius and ,paullus who1 revived and modernized1 gather in our sale-rooms1 elbowing the crowds of bidders1 among whom are shrewd1 clever buyers1 true1 impassioned collectors1 cool and self-possessed customers4 ,the auction room is no less freakish than in olden times4 ,there may be1 in fact1 reason in the refusal to bid for young slaves that the buyer considers defiled by the kisses of the auctioneer1 even if he were a ,gellianus1 the man la mode2 but we can find none1 for instance1 in what happened some years ago at the celebrated ,castellani sale in ,rome4 ,on account of ,castellani's high reputation among collectors and the fine things offered1 this sale gathered to ,rome a cosmopolitan crowd of connoisseurs4 ,while a fine ,cafaggiolo vase was under the hammer1 the employ who was exhibiting it to the public dropped it and it broke to pieces4 ,at the moment of the accident the object had just been sold to the last bidder1 who naturally enough1 immediately declared his offer cancelled1 as he had made a bid on a sound vase and not a heap of debris4 ,the auctioneer then proposed to put the fragments of the vase up to auction and a fresh start was made4 ,strange to say the second bidding reached a higher figure than the vase had fetched when offered to the public intact and in all its faultless beauty4 ,but for the consideration that the second sale may have tempted some who regretted that they had let slip the chance to bid on the fine ,cafaggiolo1 one would be inclined to deduce that in the world of curios an object acquires more worth the more it is damaged4 ,it is true that while a broken china vase is practically worthless1 a piece of faience does not lose value by being broken and put together again1 if it does not actually rise in value1 as in the case of the ,castellani ,cafaggiolo4 ,though to an outsider1 the auction room may doubtlessly appear very simple in mechanism1 it is rather a complex affair2 its atmosphere has engendered any amount of side speculation4 ,this is the more marked in such sale-rooms as have1 by reason of the importance of the sales held in them1 in a way fertilized1 as it were1 every kind of speculation4 ,rochefort1 whose passion for bric--brac took him to the ,hotel ,drouot almost daily1 has a good deal to say on this subject4 ,in his amusing book on auction sales in the celebrated ,parisian sale-room--a book1 by the way1 which is now almost out of print--the witty ,frenchman deals at length with the odd characters and silent speculations that have1 all unnoticed and unmolested1 grafted themselves upon the popular institution of the ,rue ,drouot and other auction sale rooms4 ,as for the types of frequenters1 they are of all kinds and the most nondescript character4 ,first comes the collector in all his most interesting and amusing personifications4 ,rochefort divides the amateurs hanging about auction rooms into three distinct classes1 which he subdivides into genres and sous-genres1 to use the writer's own terms4 ,according to ,rochefort's classification1 the first class consists1 broadly speaking1 of persons who pay more for an object than it is worth2 the second is composed of collectors who generally buy a thing for what it is worth2 the third and last comprises those who pay less for a thing than it is worth4 ,rochefort aptly observes that the three divisions resemble the classes of a school1 the students passing from the lowest to each of the more advanced classes4 ,the collectors of the first group1 all freshmen without exception1 are separated by ,rochefort into sincere art lovers and mere poseurs4 ,speaking of the sincerity of collectors and premising that sincerity does not always imply an intelligent knowledge of art1 ,rochefort wittily remarks3 8,there are people who with the greatest self-confidence buy a daub for a ,titian40 8,suffice it to say10 adds the writer1 8that at the sale of ,m4 ,patureau's collection1 a ,virgin of the ,flemish school1 possibly a ,eckhout or ,govrt ,flinck1 was sold for a ,murillo at the price of #de1ejj francs40 ,in this foolish acquisition insincerity is out of the question1 poseurs1 snobs and the like rarely carry their foppishly garbed insincerity to the length of paying such high prices for mere parade4 ,in reference to real connoisseurs1 to quote ,rochefort again1 who was certainly most well informed on the subject1 he says that they are so rare that it is scarcely worth while to speak of them4 ,the most genuine living exponent of the species is already a fake among faking3 becoming1 namely1 the owner of expensive curios not for art's sake but chiefly in order to be able to ask his friends3 8,by the way1 have you seen my collection80 or 8the last masterpiece ,i have bought10 etc4 ,the poseur1 however1 in his flippant and manifold attitudes1 may be certain that schemes of deception are multiform and always a match for any incarnation of this type4 ,he is the prey1 and there are all kinds of snares waiting for him1 just as there are many ways of catching birds4 ,a collector who does not belong to the general class of collectors is the private dealer1 who all too often joins forces with the 8black band0 of the sale-rooms4 ,among the buyers at the ,hotel ,drouot1 there are to be found1 says ,rochefort1 all manner of originals4 ,take for instance the maquilleur1 who is a regular godsend to restorers of paintings4 ,the maquilleur is a purchaser of paintings who can never bring himself to leave a canvas in the state he bought it4 ,if it is the portrait of an old woman1 he is sure to take the work to a restorer to see if the wrinkles can possibly be smoothed out1 if it is a landscape he invariably has changes to suggest4 ,when the canvas has been duly maquill he often takes it back to the auction room to try his chances with some novice4 ,by the side of this character is the 8cleaner10 the man who insists upon cleaning every painting that falls into his hands4 ,on coming into his possession the work may be as bright and fresh as the varnish of a newly painted motor-car1 it makes no difference1 he will clean it all the same4 8,cleaning spells death to pictures1 just as spinach spells death to butter10 wisely says the ,french writer in conclusion1 laying down a humorous aphorism implying that to clean paintings practically means to ruin them4 ,the very antithesis of the cleaner is the defiler of pictures4 ,diametrically opposed to the former1 who worships soap1 dye and other cleansing materials1 he no sooner becomes the owner of a painting than he proceeds1 as he says1 to confer the proper age upon the work1 by a coat of dirt1 the would-be patina of age1 which he ennobles and honours with various names3 harmonizing1 toning1 etc4 ,curious as it may sound1 from among all the queer legion of auction room questionables1 this member is less dangerous to art than many others1 especially his pendant1 the cleaner4 ,this is readily understood when one considers that a skilled hand may remove any artificial patina1 which is frequently separated from the pigment of the painting by a hard layer of old varnish1 without any serious damage to the work of art1 while the cleaning of an old painting proves more or less ruinous to its artistic qualities4 ,in fact1 the use of strong chemical means either to remove aged dirt or centennial varnish brings away some of the colour as well4 ,the damage done by cleaning with spirits1 or other strong methods1 is exceedingly great to some of the ,dutch paintings1 finished to a great extent by veiling with delicate layers of transparent pigment diluted in varnish4 ,venetian works1 the colours of which do not always withstand the dissolvent properties of reagents1 suffer irreparably from cleaning4 ,according to the author of ,les ,petits ,mystres de l',htel des ,ventes it is by no means impossible that the manipulations of these two art fiends may bring it about that a work be bought and cleaned by the cleaner1 then put on sale again and bought by a defiler1 to reappear at the auction room covered with fresh but soiled and old-looking patina4 ,these two characters1 like the maquilleur1 are chiefly hobbyists and rarely associate4 ,there are other oddities1 such as restorers1 providers of documents1 simple intriguers and unscrupulous business men who club together4 ,one of their common schemes is to create pseudo-collections1 supposed to have belonged to some noted person4 ,such collections are often composed only a few days before the auction sale and labelled as the property of ,conte ,x4 or ,baron ,d41 or styled anonymously1 as having belonged to a 8well-known collector10 or more often uncompromising initials designate the pseudo-owner of the works of art put up to auction4 ,the profits to be gained by commending one's own goods and running down those in competition with them is accountable for other strange professions that flourish in the stuffy atmosphere of auction rooms4 ,the competition between genuine collections belonging to genuine collectors and these faked ones impels the schemer to extol the importance of the latter1 which has doubled and disciplined the activities of many strange helpers and queer professions4 ,one of the most important personages of this unnumbered company of frauds is the ereinteur4 ,he is1 as the ,french word indicates1 a man whose part in the business is to hang about auction rooms1 and run down works from which he has nothing to gain1 or1 impersonating the character of a disinterested outsider1 to praise works the sale of which will bring him profit1 whether directly or indirectly4 ,this defamer or praiser of works of art according to orders1 puts himself in the way of possible clients1 makes their acquaintance1 and cleverly manages to influence their opinion as though incidentally4 ,he may pass himself off as a simple art lover1 a dealer1 or any other suitable character4 ,it must be added that the ereinteur is not always so venal as to sell his praises or defamation1 he is not always what might be called professional4 ,there exist a number of people who slander merely for its own sake1 urged either by jealousy1 evil disposition or a tendency to gossip4 ,at important auction sales this over-courteous personage is far more dangerous than the man who does his work systematically and as a profession1 likely to be spotted by the public4 ,one of these art slanderers came very near inflicting a deadly blow to the successful sale of a ,donatello bronze put up to auction in ,london at a well-known art sale-room4 ,on the day the objects were on view1 the work--which by the way belonged to an ,italian antiquary who enjoys the reputation of being one of the best of connoisseurs--was much admired by ,english art lovers and possible buyers4 ,a ,french art writer and connoisseur posed before the bronze and remarked that it was a clever fake1 possibly an imitation of the eighteenth century4 ,the comment passed from mouth to mouth1 and as the ,french critic was known to understand the ,italian ,renaissance1 those present expressed doubts as to its authenticity4 ,to counteract this unexpected check the antiquary hurriedly threw himself into a cab and visited the most serious frequenters of the auction room during the few hours preceding the sale and thus had time to convince them4 ,a new atmosphere soon prevailed and the ,donatello reached the record price of #fjjj4 ,it was afterwards discovered that the ,french critic had had a quarrel with the ,italian antiquary1 hence the spiteful comment4 ,some of these misrepresenters are not content with going about the sale-room in search of opportunities to injure by running down a work or praising rubbish to the disadvantage of good things4 ,they pass judgment1 favourable or the reverse1 at the very moment a certain object is offered for sale1 an act which1 strictly speaking1 is against the law--but the hidden practices of auction room intriguers are more or less baffling to protective laws1 like all the worthy members of the 8black band10 whose chief purpose in attending auction sales is to promote what is called the 8knock-out40 ,this is a scheme of combined forces to hamper the natural course of bidding and to oblige the unwary to renounce competition or to pay an exaggerated price4 ,in its simplest and most schematic form the knock-out works as follows4 ,a certain number of dealers1 go-betweens or other promiscuous plotters1 band together in a secret society for the purpose of discouraging buyers not belonging to their set4 ,though secret because of the law1 the society is in fact notorious among many of the regular frequenters of auction rooms as being both imperious and obnoxious4 ,this is not only carried on in ,paris but in other cities too1 where auction sale parasites manage to evade regulations and escape the vigilant eye of the law4 ,by this system the way is opened to any member of the society to 8cure0 an outsider of ambition or hope to buy advantageously at a sale4 ,if ,x41 a new-comer1 offers for some object its value1 or even a trifle more1 he will nevertheless lose the object or be forced to bid to a foolish figure1 as one of the conspirators will bid against him and if he happens to be obstinate he will pay dearly1 but if by mischance the object is left to his opponent after the fever of bidding has inflated the price1 the society makes good the loss sustained by its member4 ,dividing the money losses among the members of the society1 considerably lessens the loss of the bidder who has run the price up to an extravagant figure1 in order to 8punish0 some one they consider an invader4 ,the division of 8damages0 is generally effected as follows3 ,after the sale all the objects bought by the partners are put up to auction a second time among the members of the society4 ,at this second sale the goods are likely to be disposed of at their real commercial value4 ,if1 as is sometimes the case1 the total returns of this second sale are inferior to those of the auction room1 the difference1 paid to keep in force the rule of 8punishing10 is jointly borne by the co-operators1 and thus the cost of this 8chastisement0 game amounts to a small tax that each partner of the 8black band0 very willingly pays4 ,the 8black band10 as it is called in ,paris1 is so powerful that many not belonging to the society often consent to deal with the members4 ,sometimes they ask one of them to buy on their behalf4 ,there may1 of course1 be a trifling commission to pay1 a certain percentage1 but in the end it comes considerably cheaper4 ,such transactions are naturally against the disposition of the laws on auction sales1 and are invariably made without the consent or knowledge of the directors of the sale-room1 and it must be understood that if discovered there may be repression and an unexpected and brusque recall to the strict observance of the law4 ,hence the fluctuating success of such societies1 which1 however1 notwithstanding the trammels of regulations1 appear to prosper4 ,one way of faking reputations1 as it might be called1 by which an object is sold at a higher price than it would reach under ordinary conditions1 is to list it in the catalogue of a forthcoming sale of some noted collection4 ,the 8faked reputation0 here consists in the fact that the name and reputation of the collector who had formed the collection bestows lustre upon the object inserted in the sale4 ,this illegal proceeding1 which well-known and reputable sale-rooms will not countenance1 has occasioned endless lawsuits with the usual uncertain results1 as the illegitimacy of the object is not always easy to prove4 ,another method of faking the reputation of a certain work of art is the following4 ,suppose a dealer possesses a very mediocre picture of little value and wishes to have documentary proof that the work has cost him a good price1 instead of a low sum1 he has only to send the painting to the auction room and ask his comrades to run the bidding up to a certain figure1 then by buying in his own property and paying the percentage due to the auctioneer he withdraws the picture with the receipt1 the document he desired4 ,by this trick1 when an opportunity presents itself to sell the work1 he is able to produce what looks like a convincing proof of his honesty and square dealing4 8,you see1 sir1 ,i am going to be very candid and sincere with you4 ,here1 let me show you what ,i myself paid for this painting10 he will say1 and show the receipt of the public auction sale4 ,not infrequently the responsibility of the attribution is left to the owner of the work of art1 by which means objets d'art are often christened with names of a most fantastic paternity4 ,this is easily done2 take for instance a canvas that might or might not be righteously baptized 8,school of ,leonardo40 ,the work is presented by the owner to be sold by auction and declared as a ,leonardo da ,vinci1 and in the catalogue it will naturally be put down to ,leonardo4 ,when the owner goes to buy in his own canvas1 he has1 of course1 no interest to run the price up to a fancy figure1 his sole aim is to be able to show to some future buyer a catalogue with the attribution printed--and1 curiously enough1 printed attributions would appear to carry undisputed weight6 ,it is nevertheless a bait only for greenhorns1 with whom its effect rarely fails4 ,to prevent objects put up to auction from being knocked down at an unreasonably low figure it is an accepted system to place a reserve price upon them1 to write down when consigning the goods1 namely1 a certain sum representing the lowest figure at which the object may be sold4 ,the auctioneer keeps this price in pectore1 on his private list1 that is to say4 ,when the article is put up for sale it is either offered straight away for the price quoted or the latter is led up to by by-bidding4 ,if this proves to be impossible1 the object is bought in and the owner has merely a slight percentage to pay on the last bid and can withdraw his property4 ,thus while an auction sale always presents hazards1 the reserve price is a guarantee against the risks of flagging moments4 ,the room may chance to be deserted of its best public through unforeseen circumstances1 enthusiasm may suddenly cool unaccountably1 and for these and other reasons a reserve price is therefore a legitimate defence4 ,strange to say1 even this honest and recognized safeguard has been turned to cunning abuse4 ,the principle of the reserve price1 at least1 has brought into being that questionable personage nicknamed in ,english auction rooms ,peter ,funk1 a most undesirable 8faker of situations40 ,the fact that the reserve price given to the auctioneer is often disclosed to interested collectors1 and that it may be divulged by auction-room clerks and so become known1 induced collectors with objets de virtu on sale to send friends or agents secretly1 in order to run up the bidding to a certain figure4 ,the name long since given to this complacent1 secret partner shamming the art buyer is ,peter ,funk4 8,funkism10 if one may be allowed to coin a neologism1 certainly has its right to existence and originated in the legitimate desire to protect objects from falling at ridiculous prices in depressed moments of the sale1 but it has now become a regular curse1 especially at first-class auctions1 where by reason of the great interests at stake1 the system can be worked to its full magnitude and no expense spared4 ,as an example--and one that to our knowledge worked greatly to the advantage of the seller and not at all to that of the buyer1 from whom 8funkism0 robs all chance of the 8fair play0 which should be the dominant note in auctions--we may quote the sale of an ,italian collection at ,christie's at which1 certainly without the knowledge or even suspicion of the auctioneers1 ,peter ,funk played havoc under every form and guise4 ,to make sure that the keen-eyed collectors should not discover the pseudo-collectors1 the latter were all imported from the ,continent and given strict injunctions to buy at the stated price1 to bid without comment and to indulge in none but commonplaces in conversation with the public1 the dealer employing them knowing how impossible it is for a non-collector or a feigned art lover to say three words about a work of art1 without giving himself away4 ,a good appearance1 natural bidding without emphasis or theatrical pose1 an occasional 8yes0 or 8may-be0 or 8hem0 when questioned1 and a whole string of uncompromising banalities1 these are the stock-in-trade of an improvised ,peter ,funk1 who may not be so capable as the professional one but has the advantage of being less easily detected4 ,a clever ,peter ,funk knows the right moment to run up a price1 judging from his competitor's enthusiasm up to what sum he can safely bid before abandoning the game1 and by counting on his opponent's rashness and impulsiveness runs him up to bids which he afterwards regrets4 ,risky as it is1 rarely does an object remain in the hands of ,peter ,funk1 and if it does1 the owner will supply him with the money and withdraw the article1 paying the auctioneer's dues1 a comparatively modest percentage4 ,these combined forces in the auction room secretly working as a sequence of traps caused a well-known ,french collector to propose as an inscription to be put over the door of one of these dangerous dens3 8,ici il y a des piges loups40 ,it is not meant by this that all auction rooms are infested by brigands1 who leave no chance for fair-play1 and that all who ever enter them come out regretting the attempt to buy by a system that appeals to the public for its square dealing4 ,not at all1 the best artistic investments are often made at public sales1 but rarely1 alas1 by the inexperienced novice who has but a limited knowledge of art1 and is besides wholly unfamiliar with the ways of auction rooms4 ,this double form of ignorance needs the warning that there are traps1 so that coolness and wisdom may enter the brain of the enthusiastic beginner1 two necessary items in gaining experience at a reasonable price4 ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,faked ,,article ,,chapter ,,xix ,,the ,,make-,,up ,,of ,,faked ,,antiques ,paintings1 drawings1 etchings1 etc4--,how the art of faking necessarily borrows technique and experience from the restorer-- ,old and modern ways of imitating the technique of painting--,new pictures on old canvases and old paintings repainted and doctored --,suggestions for imitating the preparation of panel or canvas --,imitating characteristic paintings in impasto--,veiling and varnishing--,imitating the cracking of varnish--,old drawings --,technique of the proper abuse to give an appearance of age to drawings--,etchings--,fresh margins to old prints1 etc4 ,opinions as to the restoration of objects of art are of a most varied character2 more especially in the case of painting1 an art of rather complex technique4 ,the various opinions about the restoration of paintings may1 however1 be classified into three distinct categories4 ,one might be said to be entirely in favour of the process1 one entirely discountenancing it1 and between them one which is permissible as it has to do only with mechanical methods calculated to reinforce pigment1 or the canvas or panel1 and is not concerned with what might be called the artistic side of the art1 such as retouching or filling in the missing parts of a painting4 ,speaking of certain restorations of his time1 even ,vasari remarks in the ,life of ,luca ,signorelli1 that 8it would be far better for a masterpiece to remain ruined by time than to have it ruined by retouching by an inferior hand40 ,baldinucci tells us how ,guido ,reni objected to the retouching of old paintings1 more especially the work of good masters1 and that he invariably refused to do it himself1 no matter how much a client was disposed to offer for the work4 ,milizia1 the architect and writer1 says that to retouch an old painting1 particularly a fine work of art1 is to pave the way for future and wider destruction1 as in the course of time the retouching will show itself and then another act of barbarity will have to be perpetrated4 ,according to the opinion of a well-known ,florentine antiquary and famous restorer of paintings for the ,american market1 a picture has nothing to gain from the hand of the restorer4 ,on the contrary1 his opinion is that3 8,as soon as a restorer lays hands on a painting he ruins it40 ,the class we have placed between the two extremes1 the one using a certain discrimination1 accepting such methods as are intended merely to preserve the work without encroaching upon its artistic merits1 such as furnishing a fresh panel or canvas to a painting1 removing old and deteriorated varnish1 etc41 being the wise one is1 of course1 represented by the minority4 ,needless to say1 the main forces of the class supporting restoration in its extreme form are drawn from the ranks of restorers or authors of works teaching the grand art of resuscitating masterpieces1 such men as ,merime1 ,vergnaud1 ,prange1 ,deon1 ,forni and ,secco ,suardo4 ,the latter1 in fact1 does not hesitate to call restoration a magic art and depicts the restorer as a regular miracle-worker4 ,we do not propose in this chapter to follow the various methods of restoring paintings according to the character of the work1 fresco1 tempera or oil1 but simply to indicate some of the restoration processes that are useful to fakers in deceiving inexperienced collectors4 ,in the case of faking up an old painting of weak or defective character1 into the delusive suggestion of a work of good quality1 the process consists principally of bringing the form into proper shape by veiling and toning the crude parts of the colouring4 ,this work1 the success of which chiefly depends upon the skill and versatility of the forger1 is generally effected by first removing the old varnish with a solvent4 ,there are many kinds of solvents which can be used1 according to the quality of the varnish1 the most common1 however1 is alcohol4 ,it must be very pure1 containing the minimum of water4 ,ordinary alcohol is likely to produce opaque1 white patches1 a phenomenon called by the ,french restorer chanci1 and very difficult to obliterate once it has appeared4 ,being one of the strongest solvents and of dangerous and too rapid action at times1 the alcohol is generally mixed with turpentine to the proportion of half-and-half to start with4 ,then1 according to the greater or lesser solubility of the varnish1 the proportion of alcohol is gradually increased4 ,this mixture1 called la mista by ,italian antiquaries1 may be substituted1 as we have said1 by various solvents--potash1 soda1 ammonia1 etc4--according to the nature or hardness of the varnish to be dissolved4 ,some restorers also resort to mechanical methods to remove old varnish4 ,these methods1 too1 are various4 ,if the varnish is hard it can be cracked by pressure from the thumb1 a long operation requiring no small amount of patience and skill4 ,if it possesses sufficient elasticity to withstand this process1 it is generally removed with a steel blade in the form of an eraser4 ,the latter operation is not only very difficult but very slow1 particularly when the painting possesses artistic qualities that must not be impaired by the removal of the varnish4 ,this first operation successfully accomplished1 the artist steps in and proceeds to help the work1 say of such and such a school1 to resemble the painting of the master of this school as much as possible4 ,the process is naturally executed by the aid of a more or less complete collection of photographs of the work of the master the faker intends to imitate4 ,the retouching may follow the most varied methods4 ,to take the most common case1 that of oil painting1 the new work can be carried out with oil colours previously kept on blotting-paper to drain off the oil which is then substituted with turpentine to give the colours their lost fluidity2 it may also be effected with tempera colours or with colours the fluid element of which consists only of varnish4 ,the use of tempera is preferred by restorers because1 although it presents the extreme difficulty of changing hue when varnished and consequently demands no little experience to judge the requisite hue or tone1 still once laid down it is not likely to change with time as oil retouching on old paintings generally does4 ,the mixing of colour with varnish alone has the advantage of keeping the proper tone from beginning to end4 ,this method is extremely useful not only in the painting of missing parts but also to veil and tone what has been painted in tempera if this is not entirely harmonious with the rest after varnishing4 ,needless to add1 those colours the fluid part of which is supplied by varnish are unalterable as they do not contain any oil whatever4 ,one of the difficulties in handling these pigments is the lack of fluidity1 hence turpentine may be added with advantage4 ,however1 as the above methods of retouching are not proof against chemical tests1 alcohol being the proper solvent with which to do away with added touches to old paintings which have been done with either oil or varnish colours1 the shrewder fakers either mix amber varnish with the colours or give the fresh touches a solid coating of this varnish1 which when well prepared is supposed to be insoluble and not easily acted upon by solvents4 ,although more than one special work on the art of restoring gives recipes for the preparation of this varnish1 in practice very few know how to prepare it in the proper way4 ,we have here presupposed that the picture was in good order1 that there were no missing parts of importance1 or rather that1 with panel or canvas unimpaired1 the work only required to be retouched by the artist1 a rare case1 as when the paint has vanished the preparation of the panel or canvas has generally vanished with it1 on account of its adhesiveness4 ,we do not propose to give the various recipes for the plaster dressing forming the preparation of the panel or canvas4 ,they are different according to time and country and can be found in special works on painting4 ,under ordinary conditions it is very easy to substitute the missing preparation1 just as it is easy to give it the proper surface either by pumice or skilled coating with the brush1 but in the case of a painting on canvas it is very seldom that there are not big holes right through it4 ,the first operation in such cases is to recanvas the work1 to line it1 namely1 with another canvas which is pasted to the old one and flattened with an iron till perfectly dry4 ,the missing part must then be filled in1 imitating the weave of the canvas on which the work is painted4 ,no easy matter this1 as the different weaves of canvases are as characteristic as signatures3 no two are ever alike4 ,the new canvas showing through the hole is therefore either covered with a patch of canvas taken from some comer of the painting to be restored1 or it is given the same appearance by pressing a piece of the old canvas upon the fresh preparation of the part missing1 thus moulding the texture of the threads4 ,this must be done skilfully in such a way that the parallel lines of the threads match4 ,there are some clever fakers who imitate the old canvas by strokes of a hard brush upon the fresh preparation of the new pieces1 reproducing the characteristics of the canvas by actually copying from the original part4 ,when a painting is finished there are various methods by which an appearance of age may be given or restored to it4 ,from asphalt to liquorice hundreds of things are used1 either dissolved in turpentine or water1 glue1 albumen1 etc4 ,veiling with varnish1 coloured with the proper pigment1 generally gives the finishing touch4 ,the imitation of old and cracked varnish is simple enough4 ,first one must give the canvas a coat of diluted glue1 then varnish before the glue is quite dry4 ,as the underlayer of glue dries quickly and has a shrinking capacity disproportionate to that of the varnish1 it is easy to understand that the result will be a cracking of the varnish4 ,a close or a coarse network of cracks is obtained by increasing or decreasing the inequality of shrinkage between the two layers1 or by hastening or retarding the drying of the upper layer by artificial means4 ,although comparatively easy1 these operations nevertheless demand no little experience to be crowned with due success4 ,if a painting has been repainted only in the parts that were missing1 and the old varnish has not been removed from the rest of the picture1 it is a question of not only giving the varnish of the new spots cracks like the old varnish1 but these must imitate as closely as possible those of the original part of the painting4 ,in such cases a needle is used to make the cracks on the newly varnished parts4 ,when the grooves have been made in the varnish they are filled in with water and colour or soot to give them the desired appearance of age4 ,such1 roughly1 is the method mostly in use for oil paintings4 ,with the necessary variations1 and the use of the proper medium1 the same method also answers for tempera4 ,it is rare that frescoes are imitated or retouched1 but in such cases fresh cheese is used as the vehicle for the colour1 and when dry it not only acquires the quality of insolubility but also the opaque hue of the fresco4 ,as far as technique is concerned1 the imitator does not find it easy to imitate the work of those artists who paint in impasto1 that is to say with a thick layer of pigment1 the consequent characteristic strokes of the brush requiring no little experience for reproduction in all their force1 character and characteristics4 ,through long study and practice some finally succeed in imitating the work of such painters as ,rembrandt or ,frans ,hals1 but such cases are extremely rare4 ,forni1 who has written a work on the restoration of paintings1 suggests a method of imitating impasto painting with its characteristic brush strokes which1 in our view1 can only be applied in the case of repairing a part missing in some old painting4 ,forni's method consists of first reproducing the peculiarities of the brush strokes in a plaster composition closely resembling that of the preparation of the canvas1 and then giving the proper colouring4 ,according to ,forni this method has the advantage of giving the impression of a frank and vigorous style of painting such as is usual with the impasto technique1 and yet it has been achieved slowly and patiently4 ,one of the side-businesses of picture faking is the providing of suitable signatures4 ,when one considers that paintings generally bear the artist's signature1 more especially in recent times1 it would be strange if this branch of the shady trade did not number specialists who can imitate signatures to perfection1 as well as reproduce artists' special monograms4 ,it is easy to understand how old drawings and sketches may be imitated4 ,just as in the case of faking a painting1 the artist tries first to become familiar with the work he wishes to imitate4 ,it is then usually executed on old paper and when finished soaked in dirty water1 dried and scoured with pumice to give it the apparent abuse of age4 ,some imitators1 however1 do not give themselves the trouble to find the proper paper1 and it is not unusual to see imitations on modern paper1 or would-be sixteenth-century1 work on paper bearing the mill-mark of two or three centuries later4 ,but these of course are the gross imitations only intended to dupe the most nave of beginners4 ,prints are also imitated1 and nowadays to perfection with the help of mechanical aids1 when they have to reproduce an excellent original4 ,the ageing process is the same as that used for drawings4 ,there is one difference between them to be noted1 it is that in the case of old prints or etchings the presence or absence of the margin counts for much4 ,an etching with its original paper margin is far more valuable than one that has been cut to fit a frame or for any other purpose4 ,hence one particular branch of faking of the prints is to refurnish paper margins to those specimens that have lost them4 ,the work is more or less successful according to the skill of the faker1 but is usually effected in the following manner3 ,the etching is cut all round the edge reasonably near the printed part1 then a large piece of old paper is cut to fit the etching as a frame and the two edges are brought and held together for some time by a paper lining at the back4 ,the crack of the join between the old etching and the new margin is filled in with paste of the same composition as the paper and smoothed even by a mechanical process4 ,it is of course needless to add that such a method is not likely to take in a true collector1 but the faker knows that foolish clients are sometimes numerous and his best supporters4 ,miniature work is easy to imitate1 not only on account of its technique1 in which originality has a comparatively small rle to play1 but because it needs hardly any patina or ageing4 ,pastels and water colours1 more especially the latter1 appear to be a little out of the forger's line4 ,yet pastel1 with its peculiar technique1 affords possibilities for faking4 ,copies of noted originals have not escaped the speculative spirit of the counterfeiter4 ,they are generally sold as contemporary copies or antique copies1 and they seem to command higher prices1 even if an old copy is at times far inferior to a modern one4 ,in the faking of modern1 or semi-modern art1 the technique intended to confer age and venerability to the work finds no place4 ,in such cases1 it is easy to understand1 the main craft lies in imitating the style of the master counterfeited4 ,speaking of such imitations1 we may note that fakers contemporary with the artist are perhaps the most dangerous to the neophyte1 and as imitations have always existed more or less1 and are by no means only the product of the greed of modern fakers and dealers1 a collector is often taken in by a false ,corot or a false ,rousseau1 in which the only legitimate thing is perhaps the date1 the forgery having been perpetrated during the master's lifetime4 ,naturally1 the imitation is not always made for the purpose of cheating1 but almost always with the hope of becoming as popular as a certain master by imitating his style4 ,it is very often the work of pupils1 as in the case of the ,watteau imitations by ,lancret and ,pater4 ,it is known that the work of ,paul ,potter has been imitated by ,klomp1 that ,jacob van ,huysum has counterfeited the work of ,breughel and of ,wouwermans1 that ,constantin ,netscher made plenty of money copying ,vandyke ,charles ,i portraits1 and that ,teniers the ,younger sold false ,titians4 ,to go back to prints and etchings before closing this chapter one must make a distinction between old imitations and modern ones4 ,a good connoisseur is never at a loss to detect signs of counterfeit1 but there is an essential difference of criterion needed in judging old imitations of etchings and modern imitations4 ,in old prints involuntary discrepancies are sure to occur as they have been reproduced by hand1 and the connoisseur must therefore be acquainted with them4 ,these variations are more or less known to experts1 whereas in the case of a modern purely mechanical reproduction1 a magnifying glass and technical experience are the chief requirements4 ,marco ,dente's reproduction of ,marcantonio's work and the copies of ,callot's etchings by some of his pupils are examples of the imperfections of old imitations1 details having been omitted4 ,,chapter ,,xx ,,faked ,,sculpture1 ,,bas-,,reliefs ,,and ,,bronzes ,faked sculpture--,clay work--,the false ,tanagras--,imitation of ,renaissance work--,bas-reliefs and busts--,baked clay and stucco-duro--,the ,clodions--,bronzes--,the importance of patina--,the patina of ,pompeiian bronzes and excavated bronzes --,renaissance patina and that of later times--,gilded bronzes --,marble work and its general colouring--,sculpture in wood and ivory--,the ,ceroplastica4 ,we must repeat that in sculpture also1 faking borrows largely from the art of restoring4 ,indeed it is no exaggeration to say that nearly all branches of the faker's art turn for help to the restorer's methods4 ,and here again1 as in painting1 we are also immediately confronted by two forms of trickery2 one is the creation of a modern object in imitation of the antique so as to deceive the collector1 and the other the reconstruction of some fantastic piece of forgery from an inferior object1 or one greatly damaged by over-restoration4 ,to speak of over-restoration is in such cases to use a euphemism4 ,we can offer an example showing how this over-restoration of objects is nothing but a form of faking highly flavoured with different varieties of deception4 ,a rich ,american bought a marble statue some years ago representing a famous ,roman empress4 ,it was bought not only because the ,roman art appealed to him but as the portrait of that particular ,roman empress4 ,as a matter of fact1 the whole statue had been faked by the addition of new portions to a headless1 limbless torso1 which was the only genuinely antique part4 ,we must say1 however1 that the new head given to the half-faked statue was extremely well done4 ,it had been copied from a well-known model and except that the patina of the marble was not so perfect as might have been expected from a great master in trickery1 the most experienced collector might have been deceived4 ,clay work is perhaps the most popular form of plastic art among the fakers of antiques4 ,as it has the special advantage of being made from casts of originals1 it does not present any real technical difficulty1 and it demands no expensive additions and may be given colour and patina with comparative ease4 ,of course many of these advantages are also shared by bronzes1 stucco1 and all productions worked from an original model in clay or any other plastic substance1 such as wax1 pastiline1 etc4 ,tanagra figurines undoubtedly hold the first place in the large class of faked clay work4 ,there has been an uninterrupted succession of forgers in this line from the time ,tanagra work first came into fashion with collectors1 to the stock imitations now sold in ,paris and still bought for genuine ,tanagras by over-nave collectors4 ,the old ,baron ,rothschild1 who had a fine collection of ,tanagra figurines and no small experience as a connoisseur1 used to say that when it is a question of a ,tanagra one must see it excavated1 and even that nowadays is hardly a guarantee of genuineness4 ,the imitations are generally cast from good originals1 and as the clay shrinks considerably in drying and baking1 the imitation is usually smaller than the original and can therefore easily be detected when confronted with a genuine piece4 ,some of the more advanced imitators have somewhat obviated this difference of dimension by mechanical methods of expanding moulds1 but the work in such cases is not so perfect as otherwise and what is gained on the one hand1 namely1 a dimension identical to that of the original1 is lost on the other1 as methods of taking over-sized moulds from originals are generally imperfect4 ,a flourishing product of the ,italian market are bas-reliefs and clay busts in imitation of ,renaissance work4 ,when not the work of clever artists who model direct from the clay1 having studied and mastered the old style1 it is the product of miserable mechanical deception aided by ability to disguise its patchwork nature1 the trickery and general sleight-of-hand of the wily art of faking4 ,in the case of bas-reliefs they are often composed of different parts belonging to different originals1 sometimes originals unknown to connoisseurs and art critics4 ,this method has been applied to the imitation of ,renaissance terra-cotta busts4 ,a bust bought at a high figure from a ,venetian antiquary many years ago and believed to be genuine ,quattrocento work was afterwards discovered to have been made from the cast taken from the face of a recumbent figure on a tomb in the church of ,san ,pietro e ,paolo1 to which had been added the back part of another bust1 the whole finally set upon a pair of shoulders cast from another original of the period4 ,the monument from which the face had been moulded was so high up on the wall of the church of ,san ,pietro e ,paolo that no one knew of the existence of this original and the other parts of the faked object had also been taken from little known originals4 ,the fraud was discovered in ,paris some time after the bust had entered a noted collection1 a lawsuit ensued and the collector eventually recovered the money he had paid4 ,italian art of the fifteenth century has produced many clay bas-reliefs1 apparently from one and the same original and yet presenting slight differences1 additions and modifications evidently made after the clay had left the mould but when it was still fresh4 ,this fact has greatly incited the fancy of ,italian forgers and largely contributed to the confusion of art critics and the duping of more than one collector4 ,these bas-reliefs represent sacred subjects for the most part1 and sometimes it is not merely a question of putting a rose in the ,madonna's hand or a little bird into those of the ,infant ,jesus1 in order to lay claim to due originality1 but the modifications are so radical that the whole appearance of the work is changed4 ,it is generally done as follows4 ,a good plaster-mould is made from a good original1 and a clay reproduction formed from this mould1 which is then modified and changed while still fresh4 ,should the work to be divested of its original character represent1 say1 a ,madonna and ,child1 the artist may proceed to alter its size by modifying the border2 then1 to transform the subject1 he may make an addition on one side1 of the heads of the ox and ass1 taken of course from another original4 ,to change the pose of the ,madonna the clay is generally cut behind the head and neck with a fine wire and then the position of the head can be altered at pleasure2 from being erect1 for instance1 it can be inclined1 or vice versa4 ,by the same method1 and no small amount of skill1 arms and hands can be given new attitudes1 etc4 ,the final result is a work which passes as an original among foolish art lovers who collect series4 ,stucco duro imitations are produced by almost identical methods4 ,these compositions are generally made of plaster1 which hardens as it dries after being poured into a mould4 ,when the original is to be modified a first model of clay or some other soft modelling material is indispensable1 of course1 and from this a mould is then taken for the casting of the stucco duro4 ,to colour and give a patina either to baked clay or stucco is comparatively easy4 ,the colouring is given with tempera colours1 the patina with tinted water1 for which tobacco1 soot1 etc41 may be used1 applied with smoky and greasy hands4 ,a coat of benzine in which a small quantity of wax has been dissolved is finally laid on with a brush and the whole polished with a brush or wool4 ,as we have said1 however1 fakers are especially partial to clay work4 ,it requires little outlay1 the finished work can be fired at small expense1 the colouring and patina can be given 8at home10 not needing the special light of a studio1 etc4 ,not only in the case of ,renaissance work has this method been the favoured one but in other types of art forgery1 the eighteenth-century terra-cottas1 for instance1 the lovely work of ,clodion1 ,falconnet1 ,marin1 etc4 ,paris is glutted with imitations of ,clodion's clay groups4 ,some of them are sufficiently good to puzzle the best connoisseurs4 ,as we have seen1 a pseudo-,clodion sold years ago in perfect good faith by ,m4 ,du ,boullay to ,mme4 ,boiss caused a complicated lawsuit and many inconclusive discussions among art critics and connoisseurs of the calibre of ,eugne ,guillaume1 ,chapu1 ,millet1 ,carrier ,belleuse1 and specialists on ,clodion's work such as ,thiacourt4 ,it was finally established that the bit bearing ,clodion's name was authentic and had been inset in a group of much later date1 a spurious original1 but even this was not absolutely proved and simply offered as the most acceptable hypothesis4 ,as ,paul ,eudel remarks1 to decide the matter1 8,clodion would have to raise the stone of his sepulchre and to rise from his tomb in order to supply an irrefutable solution40 ,the initial process for faking antique bronzes is very similar to that used in clay and stucco forgeries4 ,by initial process we mean1 of course1 the way the mould is made for casting the bronze4 ,when the pseudo original has been modelled in clay1 the form of it is naturally taken to obtain a matrix of some harder material1 and from this matrix is taken the mould that is used for the cast4 ,there is also another system of casting bronzes greatly in vogue among fakers1 more especially for small objects1 which is called cire perdu4 ,it is a simplified method1 consisting of modelling the object in wax1 then taking its mould1 which is emptied by melting the wax4 ,the details of these two methods of casting bronze1 the ordinary casting and the cire perdu process1 can be found in any technical work on bronze casting and need not be repeated here4 ,the patina of bronzes presents a difficulty in addition to the artistic difficulties of creating a convincing pseudo-original1 difficulties common to clay1 stucco1 and1 in fact1 all faked sculpture4 ,patina1 the nobilis rugo of ,horace1 is the peculiar oxidization acquired by bronze with age4 ,for the connoisseur1 the patina is not only a part of the artistic tout ensemble of a bronze object--so much so that there are collectors more impressed by the beauty of the patina than by the artistic value of the piece--but it is the chief indication of the authenticity of the work4 ,according to ,pliny1 great importance was attached to the nobilis rugo by the ,roman connoisseurs also1 especially in the case of the famous ,corinthian bronze4 ,this metal was classified into five qualities by the ,roman amateur according to five different hues or patinas depending upon the proportion of gold and silver in the alloy4 ,roman art lovers made a regular study of bronze patina and of the composition of the bronze of art objects4 ,the components of this knowledge were not only gathered from the appearance of a certain bronze1 but by its relative weight and the odour of the metal4 ,that the odour of an alloy should have been made a test to judge of its component parts is very possible as the smell of bronze and brass is essentially different1 and there is no reason why a practised ,roman nose should not have distinguished slight differences according to the proportion of the various metals in the alloy4 ,one reason1 apart from artistic motives1 why the collector gives the patina so much consideration is1 as we have said1 because the patina nowadays is one of the safest guides in buying antique bronzes4 ,whilst the artistic qualities of certain objects may be reproduced with skill or trickery1 patina of a really genuine and entirely convincing appearance is supposed to be beyond the faker's art4 ,our own and other people's experience leads us to doubt this1 but such1 as a matter of fact1 is the common belief among collectors4 ,faked patina1 it is true1 is less transparent and duller than the genuine1 and it can easily be detected by shininess at the points and sharp edges of a bronze where it is difficult to fix the imitation patina1 but1 we would repeat1 there are bronzes in ,naples and some of the cities of ,northern ,italy that have deceived the best connoisseurs1 and samples may be seen in nearly all the important museums of ,europe and ,america4 ,almost all works treating specially of metal casting give various methods for obtaining a proper patina according to the different hues one may wish to give the bronze4 ,yet modern methods of colouring and oxidizing bronze do not seem to satisfy the antiquary and1 in consequence1 the faker of antique bronzes4 ,all modern mechanical methods produce fine colouring without brilliancy1 colouring that does not seem to possess the vibrant quality of old patina1 oxidation that appears to be too superficial to show the depth of colouring peculiar to patina obtained by the slow process of age4 ,to obtain such an effect the faker resorts to the most varied and out-of-the-way methods1 and when possible tries to hasten the slow oxidation of age by greasing and smoking the object1 putting it in damp places and treating it with acids4 ,often the most varied methods are used in conjunction or alternately with a patience and persistence worthy of a more honourable cause1 but practised with ever-greater keenness1 alas1 with the promise of much gain4 ,some of the most successful patinas are obtained not only by duly working at the colouring and oxidation of the metal1 but by composing the alloy in such a way as to favour the production of a convincing patina later on4 ,naturally1 the differences of the patina of old bronzes depend not only upon the various conditions to which the work may have been exposed through age1 but also upon the colouring or kind of artificial oxidation that may have been given it upon leaving the foundry4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,an ,,imitation ,,of ,,roman ,,work4 ,latest part of ,x,i,vth ,century ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,an ,,imitation ,,of #af,,th ,,century ,,work4 ,thus whilst an antique bronze brought up from the bottom of the sea may have the peculiar patina of age acquired under these special conditions and another statue exposed only to atmospheric oxidation may show the different hue belonging to the effect of air1 there are bronzes which have been coloured upon leaving the foundry1 and even when age has given brilliance to the patina they bear the characteristics differentiating the school or artist4 ,the most difficult to imitate are the excavated ,greek1 ,roman or ,etruscan bronzes1 especially when the humidity of the soil or some peculiar condition has produced a kind of patina possessing the appearance of enamel4 ,among the artificial hues of ,renaissance bronze1 the brownish tint of the ,paduan school is characteristic1 and worthy of note are some of the blackish specimens of ,venetian bronze1 as well as the whole emporium of samples of the versatile ,florentine school4 ,some of these patin are reproduced fairly well1 and now that ,gianbologna and his school are beginning to be appreciated1 we would state that faking is successfully studied to produce the reddish patina of some of the not always exquisite but yet invariably interesting little bronzes of ,tacca ,susini ,francavilla and others4 ,it was once believed by some collectors that gilded bronze could not be imitated1 that the galvanoplastic method was as recognizable as any false and badly made coin4 ,we doubt this1 for we fail to see why the old system of gilding with mercury could not be applied to imitations4 ,it is somewhat slower and more expensive1 but the profit1 as usual1 makes it worth while in the eyes of the faker4 ,gilding is certainly imitated to perfection on modern pieces purporting to be the work of ,french artists of the eighteenth century and some of the counterfeits of ,gutierrez' and ,caffieri's work have even the varnish that was at one time considered inimitable4 ,the great progress made in imitating patina1 has rendered the collecting of bronzes one of the most dangerous branches the collector can choose4 ,in the case of marble1 stone or other hard material that has to be chiselled1 the faker generally starts his work along the lines of the sculptor1 that is to say1 he models the original in clay1 casts it in plaster and transfers it to the marble by the usual methods4 ,then when this artistic part has been accomplished successfully1 the marble or stone must be given the appearance of antiquity and the patina belonging to age4 ,this is generally effected by two distinct operations1 one relating to the form1 the other to the colour and the whole peculiar harmonization of tone and polish called patina4 ,as regards the form1 modern sculpture being somewhat too precise and sharp-edged1 the chief aim of the operation is to destroy these qualities1 as well as to confer upon the object the abuse that is supposed to be traced upon an antique during its long pilgrimage through the ages4 ,the marble is therefore skilfully chipped here and there with mallet and chisel1 sand and acid are applied to dull the over-sharp tooling1 and sometimes to cause corrosion1 etc4 ,the principle accepted1 it is easy to understand that ways of ageing sculpture are multiplied1 and vary according to the illusion the faker intends to convey4 ,the fact that old ,greek and ,roman work is not identical with ,renaissance productions in appearance1 as the former are generally excavated while the latter come down to us through a long succession of owners1 is sufficient to show that there are slight differences which must be taken into consideration4 ,for colouring marble and stone1 a general tone is usually given at first which is intended to destroy the crudeness of the new material1 especially in the case of marble4 ,one of the most common ways is to wash the object with water containing a certain quantity of green vitriol4 ,when applied before the stone has lost its permeability1 this solution penetrates deeply1 particularly in marble1 and the colouring is not easily destroyed or washed out by long exposure to atmospheric action4 ,some use nitrate of silver also when a different hue is to be given1 but the solution mentioned first1 which confers the proper ivory tone to the marble1 is the most common4 ,naturally1 a tone given by these means is too uniform and monotonous to be taken for the colouring of old age1 so the artist calls his talent and experience into play to produce the desired variation2 there is1 in fact1 no other teaching but experience and taste4 ,it is to be noted that in the colouring of stone1 and particularly marble1 the artist has an almost complete palette at his disposal1 for in this branch chemistry supplies nearly every hue possible4 ,we may remark by the way that the art of colouring marble was already well understood in the days of ancient ,greece1 and it is a fact that more than one statue of that period shows signs of colouring wonderfully preserved through the ages4 ,in ,italy1 where marble dyeing is still a flourishing art1 it is done with very few colours3 verdigris1 gamboge1 dragon's-blood1 cochineal1 redwood and logwood4 ,nearly all vegetable dyes are suitable1 and many coal-tar colours1 if properly used1 give a very fast and beautiful colour to marble4 ,it is essential for the solution of all dyes to be made with alcohol or ether1 and only such anilines may be employed as are soluble in fat4 ,some solutions may be applied direct to the marble1 whatever its temperature2 others require the heating of the marble1 to increase its permeability and consequent faculty of imbibing the colouring solution4 ,the quality and condition of the marble must also be taken into consideration4 ,if the marble has not been polished properly1 or has been touched with greasy hands1 a patchy effect or stains will result4 ,rubbing with flannel and the moderate use of encaustic1 give the finishing touches1 when the character of the patina requires the shiny effect so often seen in old marbles4 ,objects sculptured in wood represent no change of technique for the forger of antiques as far as the carving is concerned4 ,the forger's ability to imitate the work of an old master is purely artistic1 and cannot1 of course1 be achieved by any special method2 but the art of giving the object a convincing appearance of age is fairly mechanical1 depending upon the use of alkali1 permanganate of potash and other substances4 ,the process being somewhat complex and common1 as a matter of fact1 to all kinds of wood carving1 it will be given in detail when imitation antique furniture and the methods of producing it are described2 faked furniture being1 perhaps1 one of the most productive branches of the obscure trade of counterfeit antiques4 ,sometimes artistic figures or bas-reliefs in wood are either coloured or gilded4 ,in the case of polychromatic work1 the wood is generally coated with a plaster preparation to receive the colour1 and the technique for ageing or giving a patina is that already described for stucco or clay work2 in the case of gilding1 the appearance of age is given to the new gold by colour veiling1 also liquorice juice and burnt paper are used with advantage applied to the gold with a soft brush4 ,ivory work too1 which represents one of the most dangerous fields to neophytic enterprise1 requires no special technique in counterfeiting as far as the artistic creation is concerned4 ,it must also be tempting to the carver as a material1 for certain nave effects of primitive art seem aided by the essential qualities of the ivory1 its fibrous constitution in particular4 ,one may safely say that there is nowadays hardly a single genuine ,byzantine ,christ2 there are1 however1 plenty on the market of course4 ,the old cracks of antique ivory are very easily imitated4 ,there is more than one method for producing them1 the most common is to plunge the piece into boiling water and then dry quickly before a fire4 ,the operation can of course be repeated until the desired effect is attained4 ,here also smoke and tobacco-juice can perform miracles4 ,sometimes ivory pieces are placed in a fermenting heap of fertilizer or wet hay4 ,the methods are1 in fact1 most varied1 and an inventive spirit seems of great assistance to the faker in devising new schemes every day4 ,we now come to the last class of this chapter1 ceroplastics1 which includes all forms of modelled wax1 small bas-reliefs supposed to have been the originals of plaquettes1 little family portraits in coloured wax1 etc4 ,in this branch1 patina and complicated methods to attain an appearance of age hardly come into consideration1 a mere touch of the hand is at times sufficient to stain the wax1 and work of this kind takes the colouring so readily after it is modelled that no craft is needed in imitating old wax work1 provided the artist is able to imitate the antique handiwork4 ,besides1 wax portraits have been for the most part kept under glass and have come down to us as fresh as though made yesterday1 not only those of a century or two ago but also those that have reached a most respectable centennial age4 ,wax work is one of the easiest to imitate and one of the most difficult to detect when imitated4 ,we are therefore inclined to advise the freshman collector to abstain from buying this kind of work1 unless irrefutable documentary evidence is offered in the shape of a well-authenticated pedigree of the work4 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,faked ,,pottery ,faked pottery--,old unglazed types--,artistic and scientific interest in pottery--,oriental glazed pottery--,greek and ,etruscan half-glazed vases--,faience and its various types-- ,italian factories1 ,cafaggiolo1 ,urbino1 etc4--,iridescent glazes1 ,hispano-,moresque1 ,deruta and ,gubbio--,french pottery--,faked ,palissy and imitations of ,henri ,,ii--,other types of ,french faience--,china1 the old and modern composition of china-- ,various ways of faking china of good marks--,half-faked pieces --,blunders in marks--,glasses and enamels4 ,pottery presents one of the richest and most varied fields for imitation and faking4 ,the endless types and specialities of this class seem to have spurred the versatile genius of the imitator4 ,broadly speaking1 and age apart1 pottery may be divided into two classes3 one in which glazing does not appear1 and one in which this important element of ceramics lends an entirely different character to the product4 ,the first class more especially1 if not exclusively1 may be grouped into two types according to character3 those that interest the scientist in particular1 and those that come more into the domain of the artist and art lover4 ,it is of course understood that there is no definite line of demarcation between the two4 ,faking1 however1 with a great spirit of impartiality1 makes no distinctions and is ready to meet its clients on the scientific or artistic field1 and fully prepared to accommodate the scientist with an artistic bent or the artist possessing the learned propensities of the historian4 ,thus ,mexican idols and ,peruvian pottery1 as well as the productions of savage tribes1 are imitated and copied with the same interest as the unglazed vases of ,samos1 ,greek clay urns and ,roman lamps4 ,what regulates the increase of the forger's activities and spurs his genius is1 as we have said1 the demand for an article and its price4 ,there is nothing surprising then in the fact that some rather indifferent types of pottery of savage tribes1 or incomplete aboriginal specimens1 should have been faked as though they presented the interest of a chef-d'uvre4 ,not altogether of this class1 but certainly of limited interest so far as art is concerned1 are the ,mexican articles which have been among the most exploited by those who know that these kinds of relics are in great demand by scientists as well as collectors who have a passion for specialities4 ,in the ,exhibition of #ahgh1 a group of scientists put the incautious upon their guard by exhibiting a whole series of faked ,mexican idols1 pottery and so forth4 ,but as the articles1 especially at that time1 were in great vogue1 the warning was not sufficient for specialists and collectors1 and the show of faked ,mexican art proved such a success that it stirred the honesty or cynicism1 we hardly know which1 of a ,parisian dealer who conceived the notion to advertise his wares3 8,forgeries of ,mexican idols1 #e-be francs40 ,unglazed ,oriental and ,grco-,roman pottery1 with its fine forms and decorative character1 has not only proved an attraction to the collector but very tempting to the faker who finds no great difficulty in imitating it4 ,the way to render such pottery antique-looking is easy4 ,acids may play their part here too1 but they are hardly necessary as the porous nature of the clay makes it able to absorb any kind of hue1 tone and dirt if buried in specially prepared ground or in a bed of fertilizer4 ,curiously enough from one point of view1 the imitation of this early art generally flourishes on the very spot where the originals are excavated1 and still more odd is it that on more than one occasion those duped were the very ones supposed to be good connoisseurs and who took direct interest in the excavations4 ,thus it is that there is an abundance of faked ,samos1 ,rhodes and other specimens1 in collections now housed in museums4 ,a superficial inspection of the ,cesnola collection in the ,metropolitan ,museum of ,new ,york1 ought to be sufficient to prove that even connoisseurs as good as ,cesnola1 are not quite safe in this speciality against the trickery of modern imitators4 ,with ,greek1 ,campanian or ,etruscan pottery that bears a peculiar polish or glazing the nature of which is still a mystery to ceramists the case is somewhat different2 good imitations are rare4 ,naturally there cannot be included among convincing imitations those upon which a lead glaze has been used1 as such imitations are covered with a thick layer of shining glaze and are only intended for veriest neophytes who have presumably never seen an original4 ,successful imitations are either finished with a very thin and non-shining glaze or an encaustic polish4 ,to ascertain whether encaustic has been used1 one has only to rub the piece with a cloth soaked in benzine1 which will soon turn it opaque4 ,in the pottery museum of ,svres there is an interesting series of faked ,greek and ,etruscan vases1 urns1 etc4 ,it comprises some good specimens of the work of ,touchard1 an imitator flourishing about the year #ahce1 other pieces by the ,giustiniani of ,naples1 and some of the most successful fakes of this particular kind of pottery1 the pieces by ,krieg from the ,rheinzabern factory4 ,these pieces were sold to the ,svres ,museum as genuine1 by a ,bavarian1 in the year #ahcg4 ,we are told that a good method in imitating ,etruscan pottery is to work with engobe1 adding a well-ground frit to the barbotine that contains the elements of a glaze4 ,to our knowledge all imitations of this kind are wanting in appearance and it is safe to assert that they could hardly receive serious consideration from a true connoisseur4 ,as regards glazed ,oriental ceramics1 there are to be noted some good imitations of ,persian work and1 above all1 imitations of the characteristic pottery of ,rhodes4 ,factories for these ceramics are almost everywhere4 ,perhaps the best imitations come from a factory in ,paris4 ,imitations from this factory have succeeded in deceiving more than one connoisseur4 ,a well-known curator of a ,berlin museum bought one of these samples as genuine1 paying eighty pounds for it1 and an antiquary of ,florence1 quite a specialist in ceramics1 very nearly committed the same mistake1 but by good luck he was warned by a friend who had been taught by hard experience that this ,oriental pottery is a product of very ,western origin4 ,curiously enough the manufacturers do not sell their produce for anything but imitations2 however1 through the usual frauds in which the market in antiques abounds1 these pieces are evidently palmed off on unwary collectors outside ,france4 ,oriental pottery is usually so well preserved1 thanks to its hard glaze1 that the faker is spared all complicated processes to give the piece an appearance of age4 ,the glazed work of ,hispano-,moresque pottery presents a more or less successful field to imitators4 ,the lustrous glaze of various hues does not seem to offer difficulties to the modern ceramist1 who has learned how to use the mysterious co-operation of smoke in the so-called muffle glaze4 ,yet when confronted with originals1 which are becoming rarer and rarer in the market every day1 the best of imitations leaves room for meditation as the genuine is usually a very uncomfortable neighbour to the counterfeit4 ,the ,italian ,renaissance with its various and interesting types has yielded a fine crop of imitations4 ,in fact plagiarism was already rampant when the old factories1 now extinct1 were in full activity4 ,thus on more than one occasion ,faenza has copied ,cafaggiolo1 and the models of ,urbino1 ,pesaro and ,casteldurante are often interchanged1 while the factory of ,savona seems to have blended its unmistakable individuality with the models of all the most successful factories4 ,cafaggiolo1 ,gubbio and ,derutha are perhaps the types of old ,italian pottery to which the faker has given preference4 ,there are some modern imitations of ,cafaggiolo made by a ceramist of ,florence so well done that they have deceived the best connoisseurs of ,paris and ,berlin4 ,but for the fact that we have pledged ourselves to point out the sins and not the sinners or their victims1 we could enumerate a rather interesting list of illustrious victims to this clever imitator of ,cafaggiolo1 who is still at work in ,florence and more dangerous every day by reason of the perfecting of his deceitful art4 ,there are also old imitations of ,cafaggiolo1 made by the ,sicilian factory of ,caltagirone1 and if one thing surprises us more than another it is that good collectors should buy this type freely as genuine4 ,they are apparently blind to the grossness of the imitation and above all to its dark1 dirty blue which has nothing in common with the beautiful colour of a genuine ,cafaggiolo4 ,another cherished type offering great enticement to the ,italian faker1 even though not imitated successfully enough to take in the real expert1 is the work of ,della ,robbia4 ,imitations of this work1 copies from good originals and honestly sold as such1 are to be seen at one of the most important potteries of ,florence1 ,cantagalli1 a firm of almost historical reputation4 ,being intended to be sold as reproductions1 copies or imitations1 no patina is given to these4 ,it is not only in ,italy that ,italian faience has been freely imitated but also in other countries1 particularly ,france4 ,among the successful imitators we may quote ,joseph ,devers1 who made such good imitations of ,italian faience that he had the honour to sell some of his specimens to the ,svres ,museum in #ahea4 ,looking now at these imitations of ,della ,robbia1 made so successfully by ,devers in #ahea1 one wonders how they could have been taken for genuine by experienced connoisseurs4 ,the lustre work of ,maestro ,giorgio ,andreoli and ,derutha has been imitated by many factories1 but1 notwithstanding the efforts put forth and the progress made in discovering the secret of lustrous glazing1 the imitations1 especially of ,maestro ,giorgio1 are deficient4 ,in the ,gubbio work of the best epoch a special firing must have been used1 especially for the red hue1 which is so original and characteristic that it seems to defy imitation4 ,that the ,maestro ,giorgios must have been glazed at a low temperature1 at any rate for the production of the iridescent effect of the colours1 may be concluded from an incident that occurred in ,gubbio years ago4 ,on the spot where ,maestro ,giorgio is supposed to have had his furnace for firing his masterpieces1 some debris of fine ,gubbio work was found4 ,by chance a woman put one of these pieces that had apparently not received the last firing for the iridescent hue into the warming pan with which she was warming her hands1 and the moderate heat of the ashes was sufficient to produce the iridescent effect4 ,imitators of this kind of work use various methods1 but one of the most common is muffled glaze1 specially prepared and aided by smoke which envelopes the piece when incandescent and the glaze about to melt4 ,in ,france the hard-glazed work of ,palissy was naturally an incentive to the imitator's versatile aptitude1 and later on to the faker's4 ,being as esteemed for his work1 as ill-treated for his religious convictions1 ,palissy had many imitators in his own time1 mostly among his pupils or enthusiastic followers4 ,however1 ,palissy died in the ,bastille without revealing the secret of his glaze or the composition of his clay1 so even his followers could only grope in the dark1 to use the expression by which ,palissy defined his long and arduous research1 before he discovered the secret of his marvellous pottery4 ,perhaps because plagiarists are1 after all1 always plagiarists1 the fact remains that none of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century imitators reached the level of the master4 ,however1 false ,palissys are legion now4 ,they are of all kinds and the originals being now practically off the market1 museums1 as usual1 abounding in pseudo-,palissys1 so a comparison with an original is not always possible4 ,apart from his immediate followers1 ,palissy was copied and imitated at ,avon near ,fontainebleau in the seventeenth century during ,louis ,,xiii reign4 ,demmin1 a real authority on ,palissy ceramics1 mentions many false ,palissys now in museums1 some of them regular pastiches1 suggested from well-known prints of a later date than ,palissy4 ,according to ,demmin1 some of these pieces are in the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum1 the motives of the composition1 old-fashioned gardens1 being taken from engravings in the style of ,lenotre1 possibly dating between #afjc and #afch4 ,in modern times there are to be noted imitations by ,alfred ,corplet1 a restorer of pottery who filled the market after the year #aheb with passable imitations1 sold as such1 of ,palissy work4 ,for a long time he had been a restorer of broken and damaged ,palissy work and thus he had had opportunity to study the work of the master closely1 and at one time his imitations fetched high prices4 ,a4 ,m4 ,pull also imitated ,palissy work about the year #ahgh1 as well as ,barbizet ,brothers1 of whom a plat reptiles is kept in the ,svres ,museum4 ,some firms even reproduce sea-fish which are never found on genuine ,palissys1 as the master only moulded such animals and fish as he found in the environs of ,paris4 ,there are many fakers who still love to imitate the work of ,palissy1 and if we may give advice to the inexperienced collector we would say3 8,don't go after ,palissys nowadays1 as a find in this line is almost an impossibility2 good originals are either kept in well-known collections or jealously guarded in museums40 ,henry ,,ii faience1 the technique of which is as much a mystery as ,bernard ,palissy's glaze1 has also been imitated1 but1 with the exception of a few specimens1 the imitations are so coarse that they could hardly be dangerous even to the neophyte who had perchance some slight acquaintance with originals4 ,as in the case of ,palissy1 however1 ,henry ,,ii ceramics do not abound on the market and such a thing as a find is not to be hoped for4 ,more common are the imitations of ,rouen1 ,moustiers1 down to the ceramics of the ,revolution4 ,the latter were at one time in such demand that a very commercial type was produced which can be imitated1 of course1 with ease4 ,in this field also1 therefore1 do not get excited too quickly over some truculent subject with the conspicuous date of the ,terror4 ,naturally among these subjects1 the assiettes au confesseur and la guillotine1 depicting the execution of ,louis ,,xvi1 are too tempting to forgers not to be given a certain preference among the faked pottery of the ,revolution4 ,we would point out1 further1 that the pottery of all parts of the world has invariably been faked or imitated1 as soon as a promise of success was presented to the imitator and of gain to the faker1 but it is not the purpose of this work to make a long exposition of the countless types of faking1 which would considerably increase its bulk and risk monotony by an endless list of names and almost identical facts with the usual dramatis person--the cheater and the cheated4 ,to give an appearance of age to pottery1 especially glazed pottery1 there are various methods1 as we have already said4 ,sometimes it is not only a question of determining whether an object is genuine or not1 but as pottery is apt to be one of the most restored articles of antiquity offered to the collector1 the art lover must be acquainted with the means of detecting which parts of a piece of pottery have been restored1 often over-restored4 ,there are two ways of restoring pottery where parts are missing4 ,one is to make the missing part in clay1 bake it1 and glaze and colour it to imitate the genuine part of the object4 ,when this is done the new part is cemented to the old1 and the piece is supposed to have been only broken and mended1 a fact which does not lessen the value of the object in the eyes of the collector so much as incompleteness would4 ,as this operation is an extremely difficult one which only a few specialists can perform--there is a ,florentine ceramist who does it to perfection--and very expensive as well1 only really fine pieces of pottery are restored in this way as a rule4 ,ordinary pieces are repaired as follows4 ,the fragments of the object are carefully cemented together and the missing parts are then supplied with plaster4 ,some use plaster mixed with glue1 others some similar composition1 in fact any soft substance will do if it will harden after it has been modelled and properly shaped4 ,when the missing parts have been filled in and carefully polished with sand-paper1 they are prepared for oil paint with a light coating of a weak solution of glue4 ,after this the artist paints in the missing pattern with oil colours and a brush1 copying from the original parts of the object4 ,this finished1 the glaze is imitated by a coat of varnish4 ,incredible as it may sound1 in the hands of a clever artist this rather clumsy method produces an almost complete illusion4 ,it is1 however1 easy to ascertain what parts have been repaired4 ,the new parts are warmer to the touch than the glazed pottery1 and they will also smell of turpentine or oil paint4 ,should an old mending have lost all smell1 the heat of the hand is sufficient to revive it4 ,place your finger for a time on the part you suspect1 and then smell it and you will be able to detect whether the part has been repainted with oil colours4 ,a piece repaired by the other method is naturally more difficult to detect2 an experienced eye1 however1 will notice some slight differences in colour and form between the old and the new parts1 and sometimes the join is not quite perfect1 a defect that is often remedied by filling in the crack with a mastic imitating the glazed ground of the piece4 ,this rarely occurs1 however1 as a good repairer can generally calculate to a nicety the shrinkage of the part to be added and makes such a neat and perfect fit that only an experienced eye can detect it4 ,in the case of a purely modern imitation1 the faker's art consists1 as usual1 in giving the piece a convincing appearance of age1 once the actual making has been performed4 ,this is generally effected by exposure to apparent ill-usage1 by greasing and smoking the object1 then cleaning it and repeating the operation over and over again till the dirt has penetrated into all the cracks1 or by burying it in a manure-heap and letting it remain till it has lost all freshness4 ,there are also chemical ways by which the glaze is eaten and its composition altered4 ,it is a fact that fluoric acid readily eats the glaze just as it dissolves glass1 and under certain circumstances the lead in the glaze under the form of silicate changes under the action of hydrosulphuric acid4 ,cracks or a regular network of craquelage are generally produced on new ceramics by the same principle as they are obtained on oil paintings1 namely1 by producing artificially a difference in the shrinkage capacity of two superimposed layers4 ,in oil painting it is the layer of pigment and of varnish1 in the case of pottery the two layers are represented by the baked clay and the glaze4 ,if the clay has a smaller shrinkage than the glaze1 in the second firing of the piece to melt the glaze1 the latter will dry in a network of cracks like those on ,chinese or ,japanese vases1 which are reproduced by this method4 ,reversing the game1 the glaze peels off here and there in drying and produces the imperfections sometimes desired on imitations of old and damaged pottery4 ,an artificial disproportion between the shrinkage of the clay and the glaze is usually obtained by modifying the quality of either the one or the other4 ,does the clay shrink more in the firing than is desired1 the ceramist generally mixes it with non-shrinking elements such as powdered brick1 or even another kind of clay which he knows must shrink less on account of its composition1 although it may not be suitable in colour and quality4 ,by this same modification of the composition the shrinkage of the glaze is increased or diminished4 ,glazes are generally composed of a combination of silex1 furnished by sand1 and oxide of lead with the addition of some flux such as borax4 ,with an increased quantity of silex in the composition of the glaze the shrinkage capacity is diminished4 ,consequently a predominance of the other elements1 lead1 flux1 etc41 produces the opposite effect1 namely1 giving the glaze a greater shrinkage capacity4 ,some workmen prefer to modify the quality of the clay to obtain the desired craquelage1 others find it more practical to modify the glaze4 ,a full account of faked china would probably fill a bulky volume4 ,it may be taken for granted that every kind of artistic china worth imitating has tempted the faker1 with disastrous results to the unwary collector4 ,we have mentioned some of the most noted forgeries of faience1 merely to show what a happy hunting-ground ceramics have been to the faker of all times1 and with china this is doubly the case4 ,from the early attempts of ,bottger1 those rare specimens of rare china1 down to almost modern samples of ,svres there has been a long succession of types that have kept generations of fakers and imitators incessantly busy4 99 99 99 99 99 ,curiously enough and with no intention of cheating1 as far as china is concerned1 noted factories have themselves greatly added to the confusion between originals and copies by becoming their own plagiarists1 as it were1 by imitating old kinds4 ,thus the ,meissen factory now puts upon the market types of old ,dresden very satisfactory to people not intimately familiar with the fine old models of the factory4 ,the same has been done at ,svres1 ,doccia and other factories4 ,then1 too1 in some cases the plagiarism is furnished with distinguishing marks that have increased the confusion--for the neophyte collector1 be it understood4 ,it is well known1 for instance1 that before closing its doors towards the end of the eighteenth century1 the ,capodimonte factory sold all the models of the factory to ,ginori's noted china works at ,doccia1 and together with the models the right to use the ,n surmounted by a crown which was the ,capodimonte factory mark4 ,ginori's factory has ever since reproduced imitation ,capodimonte with the mark of the ,royal ,neapolitan factory4 ,of course the pieces may be sold by the firm as ,ginori ware and not as ,capodimonte1 but once on the market they are sure to come into the possession of some unscrupulous dealer who will palm them off as ,capodimonte4 ,a good connoisseur1 however1 can tell1 almost at sight1 the real ,capodimonte from the ones ,ginori's factory has been turning out for more than a century4 ,the latter are not so fine in form or colour1 and although made from the same mould are not so well finished and retouched as the real ,capodimonte4 ,apart from this1 a large contribution to imitations of highly reputed china is made by smaller factories that find it convenient and profitable to copy pieces of celebrated marks4 ,some of these factories even go so far as to imitate the mark1 rendering the deception perfect4 ,there is another form of deceit in the market for artistic china1 peculiar to this particular branch4 ,many factories are in the habit of disposing of such artistic pieces as are not considered altogether up to the reputation of the factory4 ,these pieces are often bought by clever workmen who embellish them with skill and patience1 and then sell them profitably4 ,if the mark is missing it is added with muffled colours4 ,to obviate this irregularity some of the best factories either erase the mark on the wheel1 or cut certain lines in the glaze which indicate that the piece is genuine but not recognized by the factory as up to its standard of artistic value4 ,of course even a moderately expert collector knows the indelible sign made over the genuine mark1 but there1 nevertheless1 seem to be people who buy such pieces under the impression that they are genuine first-rate ,dresden1 whereas no other claim can be made than that the white background and the mark are authentic1 both baked a gran fuoco as the decoration is generally muffled work and can be executed by any skilled workman who has built a muffle in his own house4 ,nowadays defective pieces are destroyed by reputable firms2 but years ago they were not only sold off1 but even given to the very factory men1 who took them home1 decorated them and put them on the market as genuine pieces4 ,some of these curious fakes are naturally almost as good as the genuine article1 being at times the work of the same artist and the defect of the first firing is not always visible as a slight curve in a dish1 or a tiny speck in the glaze of a vase1 is a sufficient blemish for the piece to be thrown aside by the factory4 ,where the faker does not always display his usual sharpness is in the falsification of marks of noted factories4 ,he is apt to make gross mistakes by copying a mark from an original without knowing the historical characteristics of the marks of certain factories1 their peculiarities and eventual changes4 ,take1 for instance1 the ,svres mark4 ,it is known that instead of dating the pieces in figures1 the ,svres factory began in the year #agec to mark the pieces with an ,a between the entwined initials of the ,king's name1 and that each successive year was marked by the ,french alphabet till the letter ,z was reached in #aggf1 after which the alphabet was repeated again1 doubling each letter1 thus3-- #agec ,a #aggf ,z #aggg ,,aa #agic ,,zz ,it is1 however1 not unusual to see a faked piece of ,svres imitating the work of the end of the eighteenth century wrongly marked as to date1 the faker having evidently copied the mark from an original1 unaware that it represented a date as well4 ,this incredible ignorance can only be explained by the fact that many of these clever imitators1 are artists altogether unacquainted with any information outside their imitative art4 ,there are also other difficulties in the imitation of ,svres and its marks1 more especially the pieces of the above series1 of which the faker appears to be unaware4 ,beside the factory mark1 in the alphabet series particularly1 there is always the special mark of the artist who did the decoration4 ,these marks are generally not very conspicuous1 initials1 dots1 lines1 etc41 and belong to specialists1 miniature portrait painters1 landscapists or simple decorators4 ,by copying the old marks mechanically without knowing the information carried by the artist's initials or marks1 the faker is liable to attribute a piece of faked landscape painting to a portraitist and vice versa4 ,errors of this kind are more common than is generally supposed4 ,in faked china there is no question of patina or devices by which to confer an appearance of age to the piece1 nor of artificial breakages for1 by a freak of connoisseurship and contrary to faience1 repaired china has lost in a great many cases all artistic and monetary value4 ,we now turn to glassware and enamels as bearing a certain affinity in the domain of faked art and antiquities with the glazed pottery already illustrated4 ,the museum of ,saint-,germain contains specimens of faked ,roman glass with iridescent effect produced by the queer scheme of sticking fish scales to one side1 which as every one knows are iridescent4 ,a most nave form of faking to which later progress in the grand and artistic profession of duping unwise collectors hardly renders it necessary for imitators to have recourse4 ,phnician glass1 the little scent bottles1 the so-called lachrymatories or tear-bottles1 furnish a large source of profit to the faker4 ,they do not command high prices1 and appeal to the less fastidious class of collectors1 tourists1 and are sure of finding purchasers4 ,interment in earth or manure gives the desired iridescent quality to the glass in time4 ,from these antique types we will proceed to others of more recent times which demand more care and skill to imitate1 not so much on account of the art as the peculiar defects of certain kinds4 ,while ,cologne distinguishes herself with imitations of specimens of old glass1 the so-called product of excavation1 and other cities of ,germany reproduce old national types1 ,italy has revived old ,murano with a certain amount of success1 as well as various kinds of ,quattrocento and later samples4 ,these imitations are not always made with the intention to deceive and their success depends upon the class of collector4 ,he who has perfected his taste finds that although they may approximate to the old originals materially1 artistically they are wanting4 ,the excess of precision that belongs to modern reproductions somewhat lessens the artistic effect and forms one of the salient differences between old and new4 ,but these after all are not dangerous1 they represent the cabotage on the sea of deceit2 there are also fine pieces of real artistic value that are imitated by artists of every nation such as old ,bohemian chefs-d'uvre1 ,murano chandeliers1 the latter sometimes composed of old and modern parts4 ,cut glass is another branch in which the skilful imitator has triumphed4 ,the work of ,valerio ,belli and others is so well imitated that even the best connoisseurs are deceived4 ,with regard to enamels we would repeat the usual refrain1 do not buy them until you know whence they come1 and until you have traced at least two or three centuries of well-authenticated pedigree4 ,there are ordinary imitations in the antique market which are quite easily distinguished1 but there are others1 regular chefs-d'uvre of art and craft1 that defy and have1 in fact1 defied experience and knowledge4 ,not all imitations are by ,laudin or ,noailher1 whose work may be of interest to the accommodating taste of lovers of imitations1 but there are products of a higher grade1 unfortunately for collectors and museums1 and these are not sold as imitations1 but good round sums have been paid for them and they have1 in a way1 ruined the reputation of more than one collector and expert4 ,the technique of the work is identical with that of the past1 and the process for giving an appearance of age very much resembles that already described in this chapter1 though there are some fakers who claim to have found a patina that cannot be dissolved1 being incorporated with the enamel as a glaze obtained in the second firing4 ,the many lawsuits and summonses at the ,courts with respect to the buying and selling of counterfeit enamels1 are ample proof that faking is rampant also1 in this interesting branch of art collecting4 ,it suffices to say that among the illustrious victims of faked enamels there is to be included the elder ,baron ,rothschild1 or le ,baron ,alphonse as he was briefly called among antiquaries4 ,the first of his bad experiences in faked enamel was revealed to the wealthy ,baron by ,mr4 ,mannheim1 one of the finest and most honest connoisseurs of ,paris1 then taking his first steps in the traffic with antiques4 ,from the first1 ,mannheim had an excellent eye and he discovered that a place of honour was being given to a false piece in ,baron ,alphonse's rare series of choicest enamels4 ,at first he did not dare to reveal the secret1 but after having gained the certitude that not only the one piece1 but others also1 of the collection were more or less clever fakes1 he took the opportunity to speak that was offered one day by the ,baron's praise of this fine piece of enamel4 ,at first the ,baron was of course obstinate in his unbelief1 but upon a final test and the opinion of other experts1 ,mannheim's good eye finally triumphed4 ,the chef-d'uvre and other spurious pieces for which the multi-millionaire had paid a fortune disappeared from the collection4 ,long after the above experience with which ,mannheim's name was connected1 ,rothschild bought an altar-piece of immense value and great artistic merit4 ,this fine enamel had been sold to the ,baron by a ,london dealer1 who had evidently bought the piece as an antique and did not scruple to sell the rarity to his best client for one million lire4 ,having been told by his dealer that the enamel had originally come from ,vienna1 ,baron ,rothschild one day pointed it out to an ,austrian attach1 his guest1 commenting upon its beauty and his own good fortune in having it in his possession4 ,he concluded by expressing his surprise that ,austria should let such a fine work of art cross the frontier4 ,the attach said nothing in the presence of the other guests1 and only whispered to his host 8,i will come to-morrow to tell you what ,i think of your find60 ,the next day1 in fact1 he returned and revealed to the ,baron how he had been deceived in what he thought to be a precious original1 as it was nothing but a copy of a well-known altar-piece preserved in ,vienna4 ,he was even able to name the man who had made the copy of the precious enamel1 a certain ,werninger who had secretly made a reproduction while restoring the original4 ,the ,baron claimed and obtained his million from the ,london dealer1 whose good faith in this affair was beyond question1 and a warrant was issued against ,mr4 ,werninger4 ,the dealer did not recover the price he had paid but ,mr4 ,werninger was sentenced to five years' imprisonment1 ample time in which to meditate upon the reprehensible side of his alluring art4 ,as usual we must conclude the illustration of this particular branch of the trade with a warning1 for if ,baron ,rothschild had to regret the acquisition of expensive enamels1 and he is not the only conspicuous connoisseur to do so1 what is the fate likely to overtake the first exploits of a neophyte in the field6 ,if not assisted by a first-rate expert1 the freshman had better not meddle with enamels for a long time1 but assuage his passion by going and admiring well-known and authentic pieces in famous museums4 ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,metal ,,fakes ,metal work--,the bronze family3 brass1 copper1 and their various colours and patin--,beaten iron work--,arms and armour-- ,artificial rust and chemical oxidation--,when the imitators of arms and armour used steel and when iron--,cast iron pieces-- ,chemical tests--,difficulties in the connoisseurship of arms and the story of three shields--,old and modern imitations-- ,silver work--,its colour and oxidization--,why artistic pieces in precious metal are in danger of being destroyed--,fashion one of the dangers of silver plate--,how far reliance may be placed in marks--,gold work--,the tiara of ,saitafernes--,jewels and their extreme rarity--,imitations and forgeries of all ages-- ,advice to the non-initiated in the art of buying jewels4 ,when speaking in another part of this work about the methods of conferring an appearance of age to newly cast bronze1 we remarked that the faker's best accomplice in the ageing process was chemistry4 ,the colouring and bronzing of metals in fact is usually accomplished by one of two methods1 by the action of chemicals or by the application of bronze powders rendered impalpable and used as a pigment4 ,the latter method is mostly used in modern industrial art1 but has1 nevertheless1 been applied in imitating antiques and in disguising mended parts1 etc4 ,it is often used with success in the case of imitations of excavated objects which generally have a bluish-green patina4 ,this may be imitated to deceive the eye of the beginner only1 by the application of green-bronze lacquer of a dull lustre1 or of green varnish4 ,the green of the bronze colour is best prepared by mixing ,frankfort black with chrome yellow4 ,these are1 however1 but cheap and not always convincing expedients1 the real way to give tone and colour to bronze and other metals is by resort to chemistry4 ,a brown colour on bronze1 for instance1 may be obtained by preparing a sand bath large enough to contain the article to be bronzed4 ,when the object has been cleansed from all grease by dipping in boiling potash lye1 it is treated with white vinegar4 ,after this preliminary operation the object is wiped thoroughly dry and then rubbed with a linen rag moistened with hydrochloric acid4 ,when this coating is perfectly dry--a quarter of an hour is sufficient--the article must be heated in the sand bath until it has acquired a bluish tint1 and a final rubbing with a linen rag soaked in olive oil will change the blue colour to brown4 ,recipes and processes are endless and so rich in hues that almost any tone may be obtained4 ,to any interested in this branch of imitating old metals we can but suggest the excellent book1 ,the ,metal ,worker's ,handy ,book1 edited by ,william ,t4 ,brannt4 ,as we have said1 there are many methods by which to give the proper patina to metals1 and a good deal of mystery1 some fakers and imitators claiming to be in possession of unrevealed secrets4 ,when exposed to the air for a long time1 copper and bronze acquire a fine brown or green patina which1 as every collector knows1 greatly enhances the merits of an artistic piece in these two metals4 ,a perfect imitation of the result of a long process of time is not an easy matter1 in fact an almost impossible task4 ,formerly the patina of a bronze was in a way the final test of authenticity1 but nowadays there are modern imitations of so deceptive a character that the best connoisseurs are taken in4 ,one of the best known methods by which old patina is imitated on copper and bronze1 is to follow as closely as possible the process by which the genuine patina is produced4 ,thus the action of rain1 interment1 immersion in some permeating substance that will generate hydrosulphuric acid are called into service by those willing to wait a comparatively long time for the desired effects4 ,others accelerate the above process by increasing the proportion of the natural conducive elements4 ,the objects are also treated with water containing ammonia1 carbonic acid1 etc41 exposed to the intense and direct action of vapour or vaporized acid in order to produce those basic salts that form a certain patina4 ,to obtain the malachite kind of patina that generally characterizes objects found in the ground1 the imitator generally brushes the metal over with a very weak solution of cupric nitrate to which a small quantity of common salt in solution may be added4 ,when completely dry it is again brushed over with a liquid consisting of one hundred parts of weak vinegar1 five of sal-ammoniac and one of oxalic acid1 and the application is repeated after the first has dried4 ,in about a week's time the metal will have acquired a green-brown colour that may be polished with encaustic if the patina is to have a shiny appearance4 ,such is the leitmotiv1 more or less1 of the processes for obtaining the green or brown-green patin4 ,some dip the object in cupric acid and then place it in a room in which an excess of carbonic acid is produced1 by others preference is given to one or the other element according to the tone and colour desired4 ,brass articles are coated with green patina by a solution containing #aej parts of vinegar to which has been added ten parts of copper dissolved in twenty of nitric acid4 ,an application of this liquid is generally made on the object4 ,the brown patina usually characterizing old medals is obtained in many ways4 ,one is by heating the medal at the flame of a spirit lamp and then brushing it with graphite4 ,to colour a number of medals at the same time1 some imitators dissolve thirty parts of verdigris and thirty parts of sal-ammoniac in ten of water1 adding water to the solution till a precipitate is no longer formed4 ,then the medals are placed in a shallow dish without touching one another and the boiling solution is poured over them4 ,the medals are allowed to remain in the solution till they have acquired the desired tint1 which should be a fine brown4 ,green or bluish patin may also be given to bronze or copper by triturated copper carbonate used as a paint with a pale spirit varnish1 shellac or sandarac1 and applied with a brush4 ,verdigris generally gives a bluish tint and crystallized verdigris a pale green tint4 ,the two tones can be mingled to obtain some special hue4 ,iron work is perhaps one of the easiest to imitate and give an appearance of antiquity4 ,as far as the actual work is concerned1 it rests entirely upon the skill and artistic taste of the worker4 ,patina on iron is either caused simply by rust or by a slow process of oxidation which confers a rich1 dark tone to iron4 ,there is also a special patina seen on iron that has been under water for a long time1 but this is rare in imitations and very difficult to obtain4 ,the rusty coating on iron can be produced by almost any preparation capable of oxidizing the surface or transforming it into basic salt provided a red colour results1 as with nitric or hydrochloric acid1 for instance4 ,the brown patina is often obtained by oiling the piece and exposing it to the direct action of flame4 ,the two methods may be alternated and the corrosion of the acid here and there adds character to the piece4 ,methods are so various1 however1 that the way to obtain a convincing patina is perhaps contained in the dictum of an ,italian antiquary3 8,to inflict upon the object that is to be turned into an antique every possible indignity and abuse40 ,the patina in imitations of old iron work is so well reproduced nowadays that even experts are unable to distinguish the real from the unreal with certainty1 so much so that more than one has had recourse to an analysis of the composition of the iron in order to decide whether the object were modern or antique4 ,illustration3 ,,lamp ,,designed ,,by ,,professor ,,orlandini1 ,jun4 ,illustration3 ,,mantel-,,piece4 ,by ,prof4 ,orlandini1 an honest imitator of the ,renaissance1 who is responsible for many fine pieces of ornamental work and many good restorations of antique works4 ,this justifies the verdict of ,moreau1 an expert and celebrated artist in iron1 who when called upon to decide whether a certain artistic key exhibited at the ,paris ,world ,exhibition of #ahgh were really of ancient workmanship1 replied that he could not tell unless he were allowed to break the key and examine the grain of iron4 ,italy is one of the countries where the imitation of old iron is traditional4 ,in olden times it was the work of ,caparra and other artists of the ,renaissance that were imitated1 nowadays old models are reproduced for the benefit of the tourist1 and some are conceived in the old style with extreme perfection for those collectors who go in for originals and who buy this modern work as genuine chefs-d'uvre of the ,quattrocento and ,cinquecento4 ,florence1 ,venice1 and the town of ,urbino furnish the ,italian market with the best imitations of old candelabra1 andirons1 gates1 lamps1 and keys2 in fact everything that is likely to attract the tourist or please the collector4 ,nearly every country possesses good imitators of artistic old iron1 which is perhaps due to the fact that such imitations do not require any great artistic ability1 nor is the coat of rust on modern iron a matter incurring expense or complicated methods4 ,the most difficult in this field are the imitations of arms of all kinds1 which require a skilful workman and often a finished artist in iron work4 ,in this particular branch of faking it is not only a question of reproducing old weapons of a national character1 but the forger frequently turns his attention to imitating arms of exotic type4 ,we all know that ,constantinople is the place par excellence for imitations of old ,oriental arms and armour1 but very few are aware that when they buy an ,oriental poignard or ,turkish gun ornamented with passages from the ,koran in ,africa1 for instance1 they are buying goods made in ,germany4 ,as a matter of fact1 however1 ,german factories supply ,oriental maritime markets with all their fine arms4 ,we still recollect the amazement of an ,american tourist who on returning from a fair near ,tangiers showed the hotel-keeper his find1 a fine ,morocco knife with a carved scabbard in brass1 and was told that it was ,german4 ,as he persisted in his incredulity1 the hotel-keeper showed him the mate of his bargain1 which had been presented to him by the ,german commercial traveller who had lodged in his hotel4 ,as usual1 collectors of the genre being diverse as to taste and calibre as connoisseurs1 the accommodating faker has goods to suit the varied scale of his clients1 or rather there are fakers of arms and armour like the ,venetian rubbish which is for easily pleased greenhorns1 and others producing fine goods for the man of exquisite taste such as the product of ,vienna1 ,belgium1 ,france1 and sundry ,italian artists of forged steel4 ,we have purposely made a distinction by saying sundry ,italian artists1 because while the imitation of arms in other countries assumes the character of factory work of extremely good quality1 in ,italy the artist who forges steel1 chisels it and imitates old weapons1 is usually a solitary worker in his own home1 a fact that makes him far more dangerous to the collector4 ,these artists are often simply imitators of the old style whose work is sold by others as antique4 ,one of them used to live in ,lucca whose imitations of old daggers cinquedee or lingue di bove have become famous4 ,another in a town of ,northern ,italy1 imitates ,negroli and ,milanese work with uncommon success4 ,many of these artists1 who imitated and copied old damascened work to perfection1 with no thought of cheating1 have executed fine work that can stand upon its own merits so to say4 ,such1 for instance1 is the work of ,zuloaga1 the father of the painter of that name1 and of another ,spaniard of repute in the artistic world1 ,mariano ,fortuny4 ,this excellent painter was also a first-rate chiseller and good artist in damascened work4 ,he imitated the ,moresque style to perfection4 ,at the sale that took place after his death1 one of his productions1 a damascened sword1 fetched the price of #ae1jjj francs1 and was sold with no other recommendation than that of being a modern imitation of the antique by ,mariano ,fortuny4 ,in a letter written to the well-known amateur ,baron ,davillier1 ,fortuny speaks of a flourishing factory near his studio in which excellent imitations of armour were made1 chiefly repouss shields4 ,it may be taken for granted that if such a judge as ,fortuny called the imitation of this ,roman work excellent1 some of them are at present enriching well-known collections4 ,there is a scarcity of genuine pieces on the market1 in fact hardly a single fine ,cinquecento sword or halberd is to be seen in shops now or is for sale4 ,the few still obtainable are poor specimens as a rule1 and this fact ought to put the neophyte on his guard when he is offered some gorgeously ornamented sword1 pike1 ranseur or partisan lavishly chased and gilded4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some years ago an elegant lady was asked why the fair sex preferred to dress elaborately rather than in the stylish simplicity of tailor-made gowns1 to which she replied1 8,perhaps because it is less expensive40 ,in a way the fine plain swords and unornamented pieces of armour are more difficult to fake2 they would seem to demand the same eye for form as a perfectly cut1 well-fitting1 simple tailor-made gown4 ,this combined with the collector's cheap taste in arms may be the reason why the faker gives preference to imitations loaded with chased or damascened ornamentation1 and enriched with gilding and elaborate arabesques4 ,the rarity of imitations of fine weapons characterized by elegant lines1 simplicity and sobriety of ornament1 suggested to the author some years ago the solution to a difficult problem propounded by ,baron ,nathaniel ,rothschild4 ,when called to ,baron ,rothschild's magnificent mansion in ,vienna1 ,i found this rich and sagacious collector had received two fine swords that were being offered for sale4 ,one was simplicity itself1 the other over-ornamented and lavishly gilded on blade and hilt4 8,which do you advise me to buy8 ,i must decide between the two40 ,to be frank1 they both looked genuine to me1 but the ,baron's question roused a suspicion in my mind that one of the two swords was a forgery4 8,i should buy this one10 ,i answered1 pointing to the sword almost deprived of ornament4 8,you have a good eye10 complimented the ,baron4 8,the other sword is an imitation1 one of the most admirable ,i have ever seen40 ,my discernment1 however1 was merely based on the accepted aphorism that the combination in art of simplicity and extreme elegance is difficult to imitate1 otherwise who knows but what ,i might not have selected the faked sword4 ,it must be added here1 that an imitation can very rarely bear close comparison with a genuine piece4 ,the proximity of the genuine article is always rather disastrous to the fake1 and never more so than in the case of arms and armour4 ,this may be accounted for by the difference in the modern methods of working and ornamenting steel4 ,these methods not only produce a difference in the raw and worked steel that connoisseurs claim to distinguish1 but the ornamentation itself is wrought by other means4 ,engraved ornaments1 especially on pieces that do not aim to deceive first-rate connoisseurs1 are rarely done by the old method but preferably by acids4 ,damascening1 such as is rarely done now even in the ,east1 was a skilful and complicated operation by which steel blades and armour were inlaid with gold or silver ornamentations4 ,the designs were first cut deep into the steel with a burin1 then the gold or silver was beaten in with a hammer1 not only until the surface was smooth1 but until the inset was securely worked into and held by all the irregularities of the groove4 ,such work is now imitated by gilding over a rather shallow groove obtained by the action of nitric acid4 ,the sombre shine of old steel is generally reproduced by a thin coat of encaustic4 ,the sum total of these differences1 together with a certain loss of artistic sense in the art1 are the causes perhaps of the disastrous effect upon fakery of a close proximity with genuineness1 as above noted4 ,this1 of course1 is in common cases1 for1 as we have said1 there are sporadic workers in steel who produce pieces that baffle the best connoisseurs--as an artistic object cannot always be tested by breaking it and examining the texture of the metal1 which would be the safest method at present4 ,here again we are forced to advise the new-comer in the field of connoisseurship during his search for arms in his first enthusiastic stage1 to use more than one grain of salt with what he hears1 and several pounds of scepticism when he comes across what would seem to be a real find4 ,for over thirty years arms1 we mean fine specimens1 have practically disappeared from the market4 ,pistols1 guns and weapons of a late epoch may still be seen1 but not swords of the ,quattrocento and early ,cinquecento4 ,also in this field the semi-faked article has the usual luck of fetching a good price with the majority of collectors4 ,plain old pistols are often embellished with all kinds of most seductive additions4 ,mottoes are engraved or inlaid in silver on blades originally simple but deprived of the elegant simplicity to which we have already alluded4 ,these1 however1 are the cheap articles of the trade2 but the story of three shields1 a well-known incident still recounted among ,paris collectors1 offers ample proof that there are also in this field imitations that defy the best connoisseurs1 as we have already said1 and gladly repeat1 in order to render our warning to the novice all the more emphatic4 ,one of these skilled imitators flourished several years ago in ,italy's chief rival in antiquities and faking4 ,we refer1 of course1 to ,spain4 ,the first of the three identical shields1 all of which came to ,paris1 was palmed off on ,mr4 ,didier-,petit1 an excellent connoisseur1 who paid the good round sum of #djj for this fine piece of imitation4 ,it was repouss work with a mythological subject in the centre1 8,jove fulminating the ,titans40 ,the person to be struck down really1 however1 was poor ,mr4 ,didier-,petit1 rather than the ,titans1 for on realizing that he had been fooled he died of grief or apoplexy1 brought on by his disillusion1 and wounded pride as a connoisseur4 ,under the auctioneer's hammer at a subsequent sale1 the famous shield fetched #bj4 ,the second1 of identical make1 was very nearly passed off on ,baron ,davillier1 perhaps the most esteemed connoisseur of his time4 ,baron ,davillier was offered the rare piece in ,spain4 ,he was struck at first by its beauty and appearance of authenticity as well as the plausible story by which the owner explained his possession of such a valuable object4 ,the bargain was struck at #cbj and1 happy over his piece of good luck1 ,baron ,davillier1 like a true collector1 hastened to convey his find safely to his home in ,paris4 ,noticing at the ,custom ,house that the official treated his precious find with indifference1 he became suspicious1 and his suspicion of having been cheated grew to certainty before the end of the journey4 ,it would take long to recount the circumstances by which ,baron ,davillier recovered his #cbj1 suffice it to say that he did recover them and the ,spaniard replaced the faked shield in the panoply from whence the ,baron had taken it down1 swearing all the time that it was genuine even though the ,baron had seen another like it1 that there might be twins among articles of virtu1 etc4 ,but there was still the third of the shield triplet fated to come to ,paris1 bought by the well-known expert called1 or rather nicknamed1 ,couvreur4 ,curiously enough1 this third expert from one and the same city was also a specialist in arms1 as ,baron ,davillier might have been considered1 had his immense knowledge not conferred upon him the character of a specialist in almost every branch of connoisseurship4 ,illustration3 ,,plaquettes ,,of ,,various ,,artists4 ,imitations of ,roman work4 ,where did ,couvreur buy this third shield8 ,from the very man who tried to cheat ,baron ,davillier4 ,it appears it was not the same shield as the ,baron's1 though of identical workmanship1 for there were trifling differences between it and the fake ,no4 #b to reach ,paris4 ,couvreur had paid a fine price for his find1 #hjj4 ,he never recovered his money and created a scandal by presenting the piece for exhibition at the ,world's ,show of #ahgh1 insulting the judges upon their refusal to place it among the genuine pieces4 ,thus he lived and died maintaining that all who believed the piece to be a fake were fools4 ,this story only goes to prove that in every branch of imitation or faking there exist some artists of unusual talent able almost to attain perfection4 ,those who remember the story of the famous ,gladius ,rogieri quoted by ,paul ,eudel in his amusing book1 ,le ,truquage1 and all the discussion held in ,court over this supposed sword of the valiant ,king ,robert of ,sicily1 are aware how a good connoisseur such as ,m4 ,basilewski and a well-informed dealer like ,m4 ,nolivos can be taken in by a fine piece of faking1 and how a legion of experts may give contrary evidence as to the authenticity of an object4 ,and if this could happen in ,paris1 one of the most enlightened cities as to connoisseurship1 and among a coterie of specialists1 it may be imagined what possibilities for deception are offered by ,america1 that ,el ,dorado of fakers4 ,while speaking of first-rate imitations by fakers conscientious enough to use steel1 we may add that there are successful imitations in which iron and cast iron have been substituted for the orthodox metal for weapons4 ,the learned ,demmin declares that 8the casting which forgery has made it very difficult to recognize0 is a source of no little embarrassment to collectors4 ,he suggests that when there is a suspicion that a piece is cast1 an unimportant part of it should be filed and1 as usual1 the texture of the material be examined4 ,if under the magnifying glass the grain appears coarser and very shiny1 the piece has been cast4 ,to tell iron from steel ,demmin suggests that a drop of sulphuric acid diluted with water should be applied4 ,if the action of this liquid turns the metal black it is steel1 if a greenish mark is made that can be easily washed away with water1 then it is iron4 ,the black stain is produced on steel because the acid eats into the iron and not the carbon contained in the composition of steel4 ,before closing the topic of arms and armour1 we may observe that marks on these pieces1 whether engraved or impressed1 are hardly a guarantee1 as marks can be as easily imitated on these articles as on any other kind of artistic imitation4 ,in the case of weapons they have even been imitated by workers contemporary with the artist they fraudently copy1 in order to take advantage of the high reputation of certain marks4 ,the work of a ,missaglia1 ,domenico or ,filippo ,negroli1 however1 is not only attested by the stamped name or sigla but by the inimitable sum total of their art4 ,many imitators have made a great study of copying impressed marks1 but have neglected or failed to copy the individual characteristics that bear witness to an artist as much as his signature4 ,in the imitation and faking of ancient art in its various branches1 the methods and the results all differ so little that we fear to grow monotonous in this brief sketch of the questionable trade when now entering another class of metal work1 that of silver and gold4 ,the precious metals require no recipe for patin1 as patin play no part4 ,this is especially so in the case of gold1 but as nave collectors of all branches of art present the same idiosyncrasies1 it is evident that the general trend of trickery in the human comedy is more or less identical1 when allowance is made for the different materials peculiar to each particular art4 ,indeed the whole matter might be reduced to a simple equation with no unknown quantity1 namely a fool on one side and on the other a fraud which works out to a positive and disastrous result for the former4 ,in the case of silver1 although there is not exactly a question of patina properly so-called1 there is certainly a question of colouring or oxidizing1 for old silver1 as everyone knows1 never keeps the brightly shining appearance of a new piece4 ,it rather improves with time by the acquisition of a low1 pleasing tonality which has a most favourable effect1 a sort of pleasing light and shade1 which the flat negative shininess of a new piece rarely possesses4 ,in ,england the conservatism of the upper classes has preserved some really genuine silver articles with duly authenticated pedigree4 ,in ,france the spirit of the ,revolution may be responsible to a certain extent for the scarcity of rich pieces of artistic silver1 only long before the ruit hora of the ,revolution various circumstances had rendered the life of artistic silver precarious1 risks to which all artistic objects in precious metals are liable4 ,many fine pieces of silver1 in fact1 were coined into money during ,louis ,,xiv's time1 when the ,state became a financial wreck under the glorious reign of the ,roi ,soleil4 ,changing fashion and taste also1 combined with the fact that the silver was for use and not collections1 contributed to the destruction of old types of silver-plate to make way for new ones more in keeping with the new forms dictated by fashion or altered taste4 ,to the combined effect of financial distress and changing taste ,italy also owes the destruction of old silver that would otherwise have come down to us intact1 just as nowadays plated silver is likely to pass undisturbed from one generation to another4 ,it is not uncommon in ,italy1 to hear that some aristocratic family had ancient silver melted down a few years ago1 to make new and commonplace table spoons and forks4 ,a lady from ,siena who did this for a whim1 kept one piece of the old silver service and was much astonished to learn later that this one piece alone would have fetched a sum sufficient to buy the coveted new set of table silver4 ,in ,italy1 and more especially in ,tuscany1 the heavy taxes levied by ,napoleon during the occupation forced many ,florentine families to get rid of their silver-plate4 ,as a matter of fact in ,italy and elsewhere fine pieces are very rare nowadays4 ,yet a few years ago fickle fashion helped several people of good taste to form excellent collections1 gatherings of artistic pieces that the art lover would seek in vain to-day4 ,that was the happy time1 when old-fashioned and yet artistic silver was hardly reckoned above the intrinsic value of the metal it contained4 ,fifty or so years ago it was not uncommon for one of the few collectors of artistic silver to come across some artistic beauty offered at so much a gramme1 generally a very moderate figure slightly above the current price of the metal or at times at the actual value of the silver4 ,to quote one instance out of many4 ,in #ahee1 at the sale held after the death of ,mlle4 ,mazencourt1 some particularly fine flambeaux and other pieces of silver were sold at the price of #bj centimes a gramme4 ,such conditions explain how ,baron ,pichon1 a collector of taste1 was able to buy for the moderate sum of #cjj francs an artistic bowl which was sold at his death for #ad1jjj francs1 a price that could easily be surpassed nowadays4 ,unfortunately for the true collector1 not only has old silver become fashionable1 but it has become fashionable to be a collector of artistic silver1 and thus real connoisseurship and ignorant greedy wealth have started the usual competition that inevitably creates an artificial standard of values1 all too apt to generate faking4 ,faked silver1 in fact1 came at once triumphantly to the front in forms of all kinds1 entirely new pieces successfully parading as old1 were launched upon the market as well as plain old pieces decked out with the heavy ornamentation likely to suit the taste of the parvenu4 ,there was also the usual piecemeal of different authentic parts1 joined together more or less harmoniously by modern work1 in fact all that the faker's genius and versatility is able to produce4 ,silver marks1 which on genuine pieces guarantee the quality of the metal and the authenticity of the piece as the work of a certain artist1 factory or mint1 can1 unfortunately1 be imitated with success4 ,in fact the faker who is a good psychologist and knows that the neophyte amateur relies largely upon his knowledge of marks1 generally expends great care upon the imitation of the various hall-marks4 ,though1 as we have already said1 silver has no patina properly so-called1 there is the tone and colour which has to be imitated4 ,to dull silver--to give it1 we mean1 the leaden-brownish colour acquired by age--a mixture with sulphur or chlorine is used4 ,a solution of pentasulphide of potassium--the liver of sulphur of the shops--is generally used4 ,liver of sulphur is prepared by thoroughly mixing and heating together two parts of well-dried potash and one of sulphur powder4 ,this mixture also takes effect on cupriferous silver1 but the result is not so fine4 ,a velvety black is obtained by dipping the article into a solution of mercurous nitrate previous to oxidization4 ,this method is used when a half polish is to be given to the silver1 leaving the dark tones in the grooves4 ,another method consists of dipping the article into chlorine water1 a solution of chloride of lime1 or into eau de ,javelle4 ,special works on metals also give many other methods and it is for the imitator to chose the best adapted for the particular case and to use his artistic criterion to obtain a convincing effect4 ,passing on to gold1 more especially in jewellery1 we may say that imitators and fakers have wrought havoc by filling the market with spurious products4 ,imitation in this branch ranges from copying the old art of working gold1 of which the famous tiara of ,saitaphernes1 bought by the ,louvre1 is one of the most striking examples1 to the small piece of jewellery with imitated enamels or more or less genuine stones4 ,in this line there is something to suit all tastes1 from the eager connoisseur1 difficult to please1 still on the look out for the marvellous jewellery of the ,rennaissance and early sixteenth century1 to the less exclusive1 satisfied with later epochs down to the eighteenth century4 ,there is no way of helping the neophyte to collect jewellery1 not only because fine old pieces are extremely rare1 but because no advice or theoretical hints can help the discernment of the genuine article1 only sound and well-tested experience1 gained often at great cost1 is of any real avail4 ,in this branch also there are imitations that are entirely new and others1 like the above-said tiara1 that have become such by the preponderance of restored parts1 or because the latter are the most important artistically speaking4 ,in the tiara of ,saitaphernes the genuine part1 if genuine1 is the upper portion of the domed tiara1 which is said to have been an ancient drinking cup reversed and placed at the top of the tiara4 ,many well-imitated rings are really old worn-out rings used for the circle1 to show that they have been used1 on which the artistic setting of the jewel or other ornamental part has been soldered4 ,in conclusion1 when you would buy old jewellery buy as if it were modern and pay the price of imitations1 then if by some rare chance you are mistaken you will experience the unique pleasure of possessing a 8find10 but never reverse the process1 for if you buy an ancient piece of jewellery you will certainly realize in due time that it is really modern4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,musical ,,instruments ,carved wood--,artistic furniture--,wood staining and patina-- ,the merits of elbow-grease--,painted and lacquered furniture --,veneer and inlaid work--,musical instruments--,imitations and fakers of musical instruments--,connoisseurship of musical instruments twofold--,attribution and labels--,some good imitators--,the violin as example--,the restoration and odd adventures of well-known musical instruments--,legends and anecdotes that help--,analysis of form and of sound--,rossini's saying4 ,the finest pieces of faked furniture are very rarely entirely new1 sometimes they are old pieces to which rich ornaments have been added2 at other times1 and this is the most common occurrence1 they are put together from fragments belonging to two1 three1 or even four different pieces1 the parts and debris1 in fact1 of old broken furniture4 ,there is also the entirely new fake imitating old furniture1 but this is rarely as convincing as the other which is the really dangerous type even for an experienced collector4 ,impressed by the great amount of faked furniture glutting the ,paris market1 ,paul ,eudel says1 8in principle there is no more such a thing as antique furniture4 ,all that is sold is false or terribly repaired40 ,in ,italy1 that inexhaustible mine of past art1 it is still possible to find genuine pieces1 provided1 of course1 that the collector does not insist upon having those first-rate pieces now belonging to museums or collections formed several years ago4 ,there are1 however1 in ,italy1 as in every other country1 modern productions of antique furniture for the novices in the collector's career4 ,this furniture may be carved out of old pieces of wood or ordinary wood4 ,in both cases it is generally necessary to give an old colouring to the wood1 for which there are a variety of methods according to the desired effect1 tone1 colour1 etc4 ,many use walnut-juice1 others permanganate of potash1 and still others the more drastic system of burning the surface of the wood with acid4 ,the old way of imitating worm-holes was to use buckshot1 a ridiculous method which nevertheless had its vogue and apparently satisfied the gross eye of some collectors4 ,nowadays worm-holes are made with an instrument that imitates them to perfection1 although they do not go so deep as the genuine ones1 and this difference1 by the way1 is one of the tests to tell real worm-holes from spurious ones4 ,as new furniture that imitates old is generally too sharp-edged and neatly finished1 it is usually subjected to a regular course of ill-treatment4 ,french dealers call this process 8aviler un meuble10 and it consists of pounding with heavy sticks1 rubbing with sand-paper1 pumice1 etc4 ,the finishing touch1 that peculiar polished surface characterizing ancient furniture1 is usually given by friction with wool after a slight coating of benzine in which a little wax has been dissolved4 ,the less wax used and the more elbow-grease1 the more will the polish resemble that of real old furniture and the more difficult does it become to detect the deceit4 ,if much wax has been used the scratch of a needle is sufficient to reveal even the thinnest layer1 but if it is so imperceptible as to stand this test it is very difficult to tell the real from the imitation4 ,the polished parts of an old piece of furniture are not casual but the result of long use4 ,prominent parts are naturally1 therefore1 the ones to get so polished rather than other parts4 ,i remember witnessing a curious sight one day when admitted to the sanctum of a well-known antiquary4 ,half a dozen stools had been repaired1 most generously repaired1 a new patina had been given and now they were to receive the last touches1 the polished parts that add such charm to old furniture4 ,the workman who had half finished the job kept passing and repassing close to the stools which he had arranged in a row1 rubbing his legs against each one4 ,i asked him the meaning of the performance and he answered that as there were no sharp edges on the lower part of those sixteenth-century walnut stools1 he wanted to find out where and to what extent they would be most polished by use4 ,not having a genuine stool from which to copy1 he had resorted to this means so as to make no mistake4 ,i very nearly asked him if he thought everyone was the same height and had the same length of leg4 ,but as the work proceeded ,i gathered from the practical application of his method1 better than ,i could have done from any explanation1 that he was endeavouring to get a mere hint1 where to begin to rub with his pad1 in order to produce that vague patch of hollows one notices sometimes in church benches4 ,the same patience is necessary in making imitation worm-holes1 which are so cunningly distributed1 so convincingly worked in their erratic manner of piercing wood as to suggest to ,edmond ,bonnaff the fine bit of sarcasm3 8,des vers savants chargs de fouiller le bois neuf la demande40 ,that piecemeal kind of furniture1 the parts of which are unquestionably antique but of various origins1 being the remains of more than one piece of furniture--l'assemblage1 as the ,french call it--may prove a danger to the best connoisseurs if done well and with taste4 ,in certain respects the piece is genuinely antique1 but not exactly as the collector understands the word1 hence its fraudulency entitles it to be classified among fakes4 ,it is incredible what an industrious antiquary is able to do in the way of piecing furniture together4 ,this consists not merely of finding a top for table-legs1 or legs for a table-top1 but there is no limit to the invention of this piecemeal furniture4 ,a wooden door may furnish the back of a throne when well matched with a rich old coffer2 the gilded ornamentation of an altar may be transformed into the head of a ,louis ,,xv bed1 and so on4 ,in the same way a simple piece of furniture may be enriched by attaching ornaments1 coats of arms1 etc4 ,the whole is invariably toned and harmonized by means of one of the above-mentioned methods4 ,naturally1 ignorance of style sometimes leads some fakers to extremely amusing blunders1 but it must be confessed the cases are rare1 and this piecemeal furniture has been palmed off on too many connoisseurs1 and graces too many well-reputed collections to be dismissed with a smile of incredulity4 ,were antiquaries more disposed to talk or less indulgent towards the conceit of collectors1 it might be learnt that all the rich furniture sold during the last twenty years to museums and collectors belongs to this composite order4 ,a special branch of the imitation of antique furniture is inlaid work1 the ,french marqueterie and ,italian tarsia1 by which designs are traced upon the surface by inlaying wood1 ivory or metal4 ,there are various epochs and styles of inlaid furniture4 ,one may begin with the geometrical patterns of the ,trecento or the cappuccino of about the same time and later1 and gradually pass through the many styles and methods to the complex ornamentation of ,buhl's work4 ,the early work1 including the cappuccino1 a peculiar inlaid ivory work with geometric patterns1 is very well imitated in ,italy where restorers of this kind of furniture generally turn into good imitators1 and become at times impenitent fakers of the most fantastic would-be old style4 ,skill in inlaying wood and ivory according to different epochs and the ordinary collector's love of ornamented furniture have suggested to some imitators the most absurd combinations of styles1 a riot of incongruity and incompatibility4 ,it is not rare to see fine chairs that would otherwise be tasteful but for the heavy ornamentation of inlaid wood or ivory arabesques1 grotesques1 etc4 ,the outrage of having a fifteenth-century1 inlaid after the style and designs of at least a century later1 is not uncommonly excused by the explanation that it appeals to the tawdry taste of customers and that the article commands a higher price by the addition of the heavy incongruous ornamentation4 ,this peculiar form of degeneration in taste1 the passion for excessive ornamentation1 is also what often mars the imitations of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century painted furniture1 imitations of the ,venetian style especially being generally very carelessly finished but overcharged with gilding and cheap bits of painted ornamentation4 ,french imitations in this line are not so debased as some ,italian1 but like them they are not very convincing1 as it is almost impossible to imitate the ,french eighteenth-century gilding1 and the carving of this epoch shows such neatness and is so clean cut that the gilded parts assume an appearance of metal1 a quality that the modern industry of antiques does not find convenient or is unable to imitate4 ,the ,french ,buhl also is often imitated with celluloid instead of tortoise-shell and can only succeed in attracting the very easily satisfied collector4 ,this is the case with some other cheap imitations overcharged with ordinary gilded bronze4 ,by the side of these specimens1 however1 ,french art also counts some excellent imitations done by real artists1 which if not successful in deceiving experienced collectors are nevertheless regular chefs-d'uvre in the art of imitating the finest and richest pieces of the ,louis ,,xv and ,louis ,,xvi styles4 ,the simplicity and purity of line that characterized ,english styles from the end of the seventeenth century to the best period of the next1 helped to keep the imitators of this country within bounds4 ,their fancy in any case was less inventive and less disastrously enterprising than that of the cheap imitators of ,italian furniture4 ,before leaving the subject1 we may say that many of the walnut panels in furniture1 which appear to be so elaborately carved1 are not carved at all but burnt into the desired patterns4 ,the process consists of making a good cast iron matrix from a fine bas-relief1 then heating it and pressing it upon the wood by a special procedure by which all the superfluous wood is burnt away and the rest takes the shape of the mould4 ,this method not only gives the wood the desired form in perfect imitation of carving1 but the burning stains it to a fine brown tone very much resembling old wood1 after which an application of oil or encaustic is sufficient to give it a semblance of patina4 ,in another part of this book we have noted that in ,bologna more especially imitations of old tables are placed for a time in cheap restaurants where1 through grease1 dirt and rough wear and tear1 they acquire that fine patina so highly esteemed in ancient wood4 ,such pieces are not only found in towns but are housed here and there about the country1 sometimes in old palaces and villas1 or else in out of the way nooks4 ,the former system gives the alluring sensation of buying something really worth while1 and at first hand1 from its historical owner2 the latter that a real find has been discovered1 that find which is the eternal fata ,morgana of freshman collectors4 ,imitations of musical instruments vary according to the style of the instrument and its musical quality4 ,in some fakes the musical quality is of minor importance to a certain extent1 the artistic properties and ornamentation being the chief consideration with the collector4 ,in other instruments the quality of the tone is of importance1 so that though the form may not be neglected1 the faker must bear in mind that his imitation will have to stand a double test3 it must satisfy the ear and stand the examination of an experienced eye4 ,the first class includes collectively such instruments as are no longer in use and are highly ornamented with carving1 inlaid work or gilding such as lutes1 archilutes1 harps1 virginals1 spinets1 etc42 the second comprises instruments still in use such as violins1 'cellos1 etc4 ,the ornamental1 strange and obsolete instruments are the ones that fakers chiefly furnish to the ordinary trade4 ,naturally the trade in imitating instruments for the mere curio hunter and non-musical collector1 is not so remunerative as other branches of the shady art of faking4 ,the number of collectors in this branch is comparatively restricted1 many of them talented and not easily duped as is the case in all branches not enjoying popularity4 ,the tourist would rather go home with a painting or faked bronze of ,naples or elsewhere1 than carry an instrument he cannot play1 which will probably be an encumbrance and dust-catcher in the small rooms of big cities4 ,on the other hand1 however1 there is nothing complicated about this branch of faking4 ,it is usually an easy matter for a guitar or mandoline maker to invest in the small amount of material needed1 and to turn his hand to the work4 ,it must also be taken into account that these workers are very often repairers of ancient instruments whereby they learn to make their imitations technically correct1 though this is by no means always the case4 ,we have1 indeed1 seen appalling exceptions1 pianos of an early period transformed into spinets1 lutes with grotesque and impossible finger-boards1 etc4 ,some careless and certainly unmusical imitators go so far as to make instruments that could never be played1 and even put common wire instead of gut strings1 which makes one wonder what kind of collector it can be who delights in such delusions4 ,our intention is to deal only with the artistic side of musical instruments1 so we lay no claim to real connoisseurship of musical instruments1 more especially as regards the family of stringed instruments which finds its best and most complete expression in the violin4 ,yet the fact that the great discoveries have generally been made by ignorant men like ,tarisio1 not necessarily fine musicians1 goes to show that connoisseurship of form has its importance1 greatly resembling after all1 the connoisseurship of other branches in its summing up of various analyses into a final synthesis of form and character4 ,true1 in a good violin there is rarely any ornamentation1 or if there is1 it still more rarely furnishes a clue2 but although all is entrusted to simplicity of line and form in its most aristocratic and elemental expression1 there still seems to be enough to tell of the 8touch of a vanished hand40 8,how interesting10 justly remarks ,olga ,racster1 8it is to observe an expert spelling out the name of an old fiddle by the aid of this #8touch of a vanished hand4' ,how eagerly he seeks it and finds it with the help of that alphabet which lies concealed in the colour1 shape1 height and curves of an old violin40 ,together with the difficulty of faking instruments the synthesis of connoisseurship in this line could not be better expressed4 ,as for the quality of the tone1 the expert relies purely and simply upon his ear1 no book or hints of a practical character can assist the expert to perfect his ear4 ,all depends upon natural disposition and the experience of a well-trained organ in this most important part of connoisseurship of musical instruments4 ,when ,rossini was asked what is required to make a good singer1 he said3 8,three things1 voice1 voice1 voice40 ,the quotation fits here for the chief requirement of a good connoisseur of musical instruments as regards their musical quality consists of a triply good ear4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv ,,velvets1 ,,tapestries ,,and ,,books ,olla ,podrida3 ,genuine and faked antique stuffs--,the peculiar knowledge necessary to an expert on stuffs--,the difficulty in imitating ,renaissance velvet--,collectors of costumes-- ,collections of dolls--,tapestries--,repairs and faked parts or qualities--,book collecting--,two kinds of book collectors --,the faking of editions and rare bindings--,the extended and ambitious activity of the art of faking--,faked aerolites6 ,assembling in this chapter a variety of objects under the title of minor branches of art collecting1 we do not use the term artistically1 but merely because these branches apparently attract fewer art lovers than the others1 and the activity of the faker is more restricted in their case4 ,in many of these branches1 too1 the art of collecting and connoisseurship is reduced to technical knowledge and artistic sentiment plays a very secondary part4 ,if there is any one branch of collecting in which it is necessary to be a specialist to ensure success1 that branch is unquestionably antique stuffs4 ,artistic sentiment and good taste are of comparatively slight assistance compared with technical knowledge1 and they may even at times produce two dangerous psychological elements only too often responsible for collectors' blunders3 enthusiasm and suggestion4 ,the technician with knowledge of the different qualities of materials1 with an eye for the various peculiarities of the weave and colour1 and sound information as to the character of the various patterns1 etc41 is doubtlessly the best equipped as a connoisseur of stuffs4 ,this may sound absurd to the outsider1 especially to artists1 whom we have ourselves found to be over-confident as to their qualities1 their pictorial eye1 their full acquaintance with form4 ,yet too many of these artists1 not being collectors or experts1 have bought modern goods as antique1 old furniture re-covered with modern brocade that no expert would for a moment have taken as being of the same date as the furniture4 ,we refer1 of course1 to those modern imitations generally the easiest to detect1 however artfully they have been coloured and aged to give them the appearance of genuine antiquity4 ,the detection of modern products offers no difficulty to the expert4 ,they may look extremely convincing to the uninitiated or beginner1 as they possess what may be termed a general impression of antiquity1 but to the trained eye of the expert there are too many essential differences2 and they lack1 above all1 a character that in the case of a large quantity of stuff and not a mere sample1 is inimitable4 ,for the ,jaquard machine is not the old weaving loom1 the material used is produced with greater care and precision which gives the fabric a different look even when the coarseness of ancient textiles has been imitated1 the colours are different and so is the chemical process for dyeing the thread1 etc4 ,the sum total of these elementary differences with which the art of imitation cannot cope1 is what reveals to the expert almost at sight the antiquity or modernity of the product4 ,in conclusion1 with the exception of some rare samples of small pieces1 the modern imitation of ancient stuffs is but a successful optical illusion4 ,imitations that count at least a century of age1 on the contrary1 prove dangerous puzzles to experts and connoisseurs of this speciality1 these imitations having been made in almost exactly the same way as the originals1 before weaving machines were invented1 and when the thread was spun and dyed in the simple old way before aniline dyes had furnished beautiful but most unstable colours4 ,illustration3 ,photo ,alinari ,,europa ,,on ,,the ,,bull4 ,by ,andrea ,brioschi called 8,il ,riccio40 ,imitation of the ,antique1 ,padua ,school4 ,in ,france1 under ,louis ,,xiii1 ,renaissance patterns were admirably copied1 as well as those of the sixteenth century4 ,the reproduction of old designs is not confined to ,italy and ,france alone4 ,in nearly every country there have been imitators of the best samples of ancient stuffs1 damasks1 brocades and velvets4 ,as regards imitation1 the more complex the pattern in design and colouring1 the easier it can be reproduced with success4 ,in fact plain velvet is the most difficult to imitate4 ,no one1 not even in the past1 has ever reproduced the fine velvets of the ,quattrocento and early ,cinquecento with complete success4 ,methods of ageing modern stuffs which have not the advantage of the genuine hues of age of old imitations1 greatly resemble in general lines those adopted to give an appearance of age to other objects4 ,if the colouring is crude and too new looking1 the stuff is exposed to atmospheric action1 rain1 dew and sunshine4 ,needless to add1 this treatment must be followed with care and discrimination otherwise the fabric may be reduced to a rag as well as to an appearance of age4 ,to harmonize the colours and give them a more faded look1 some put the goods into a bath of slightly tinted liquid1 thus obtaining on the fabric what in painting is termed velatura4 ,others put the liquid into an atomizer and steam it on to the stuff4 ,this process has the advantage of giving alternate hues without any sharp delimitation between them4 ,these methods1 however1 by which the artist can display variation1 are not convenient or possible in the case of large quantities of fabric1 nor is the result convincing in the proximity of the original4 ,one does not need to be an expert1 in fact1 to see the difference between the old and the new on a piece of furniture or in a room where imitations have been used to supply what was lacking4 ,to make imitations more convincing1 more especially in the case of small pieces1 some antiquaries stitch on bands before discolouring the stuff1 which are afterwards taken off leaving parts with fresher colours1 as often happens in really antique pieces that have belonged to ecclesiastical copes1 etc4 ,strict order having been dispensed with in this chapter1 and as1 after all1 fabrics are involved1 we may here touch upon the subject of dress and past costumes4 ,the rarity of such collections depends not only upon the fact that the roomy space of a museum is indispensable for their display but largely upon the scarcity of past century costumes4 ,this branch of collecting is very useful to the history of fashion and national costumes1 but it must be considered that to be of interest to the collector a dress must be at least forty years old1 and very few garments attain that age nowadays4 ,either they are altered to conform to fashion1 or unpicked or given away until they have run through the scale of society and end in rags4 ,the rarity of the genuine article appears to correspond with the rarity of collectors of this line1 and there is therefore no question of fakes1 unless one should take seriously certain comic incidents and consider as a collector the simpleton who buys the cast-off costumes of an elegant fancy dress ball as genuine articles1 those poor imitations1 with no pretence at being anything else1 of ,henry ,,iv1 ,marie ,antoinette1 and other historical garments4 ,having mentioned the subject of costumes1 we may speak of another kind of collection that is also very useful to the history of past usages and fashions1 that of dolls and toys of past centuries4 ,dolls and children's toys are not an invention of to-day4 ,it is safe to say that their existence can be traced almost as far as the history of civilization4 ,the ,romans used to bury dolls and toys with the bodies of their little ones or place them in the funereal urn1 a usage that has preserved for us specimens of these tiny objects that have drawn smiles from young lips closed and sealed centuries ago4 ,together with these relics are other images that illustrate the history of costumes like the dolls1 the statuettes offered to temples and churches as ex-votos and those used in the construction of the old presepio 7birth of ,christ scene71 the ,christmas ,eve representations of the ,bethlehem scene4 ,these wooden dolls and statuettes are not only artistic in themselves1 but are dressed in stuffs of their epoch very often cut in the fashion of the time4 ,some of these collections have really been excellent commentaries on the history of fashion and domestic customs of past ages4 ,among the few important collections we may quote as an example that of ,mme4 ,agar1 exhibited by this celebrated ,french artist several years ago in the ,palais de l',industrie now demolished4 ,mme4 ,agar's collection was very complete and illustrative of fashion and life in ,holland centuries ago4 ,the collection had originally belonged to the infant princess1 the daughter of ,william of ,orange and ,nassau4 ,not only was it extremely artistic1 containing several interiors of ,dutch houses with inmates and accurate details suggesting a painting by ,terburg or ,teniers1 but it represented all kinds of expression of seventeenth-century ,dutch life4 ,mme4 ,agar came into possession of this fine collection under the following circumstances4 ,returning from one of her artistic tours in ,belgium she visited the city of ,ghent and found the collection in the hands of a gentleman to whom she had been introduced upon her arrival4 ,she offered to buy it1 but the owner refused all offers declaring that he did not wish to part with the precious collection4 ,however1 after having heard ,mme4 ,agar at the theatre one evening1 he was so taken by her art that he wrote to the actress the very same night1 8,come to fetch my toys4 ,i offer them to you1 they are yours40 ,there is no question of fakes in this branch either4 ,the difficulty in finding old stuffs and linen with which to garb the figures is sufficient to discourage the trade1 especially when one remembers how few customers the imitator could hope to attract4 ,the art of tapestry weaving is the most complete of the class4 ,although technique may play its part in constituting expert knowledge1 it is certainly subordinate to the artistic qualities necessary to perfect connoisseurship4 ,faking plays no part in this field1 at least not the conspicuous part that it plays in painting and other artistic products likely to attract rich amateurs4 ,this is easily understood when one takes into consideration the time1 patience and money needful to the making of tapestry2 it costs something like eighty pounds a square yard4 ,the imitator also knows that it would be a waste of time and money to fake old tapestries as any expert can tell modern work from old4 ,the apparatus has hardly undergone any essential change it is true1 but the materials are so different from formerly that fairly tolerable imitations can only be given in the case of repairs to old pieces4 ,on account of the great cost of modern tapestry the few existing factories either belong to the ,state or potentates1 or they are supported by the lavish encouragement of some modern ,mcenas4 ,as we have said1 the difference between the work of modern and ancient tapestry does not lie in a difference of process1 unchanged in essentials since the ,egyptian dynasties1 but rather in the impossibility of obtaining materials like the old ones4 ,although some unscrupulous dealers do palm off over-repaired pieces of tapestry on foolish novices1 the repair of tapestry is no faking after all1 for the decorative character of the fabric fully justifies the mending and restoration of missing parts and1 unlike painting1 the work does not bear an individual imprint4 ,it is our duty1 however1 to warn the neophyte that repairs are very seldom pointed out by dealers and that it is absolutely necessary for the collector to train his eye in order to be able to detect the modern parts from the old and to know how much must be bought as antique and how much as modern4 ,this is not so difficult as it may appear4 ,the modern parts are worked in with the needle and although the threads have generally been specially dyed1 as the usual colours now on sale are very rarely suitable1 there is a slight difference in the final effect4 ,nothing to offend the eye1 even when closely examined1 but enough to warn the expert of the size of the repaired piece4 ,sometimes the repairer of tapestries uses a method which in our opinion comes under the head of faking4 ,this consists of re-colouring faded parts with water-colours or tempera4 ,some of this touching up is really cleverly done1 at other times it is so clumsy that one wonders how even a novice can be taken in4 ,if there is any suspicion that the tapestry has been coloured1 a practical test is the displacement of the threads with a needle as the fresh colours are generally laid on with a brush and never penetrate between the threads where the old faded colour is visible4 ,incredible as it may seem1 some tapestries are touched up with pastel4 ,this was sometimes done even in the eighteenth century to disguise defects and crudeness of tone and now it is practised to deceive the eye by making a better match between the old and the new parts4 ,of course pastel work is easily detected if one is allowed to rub the part1 but this is not always feasible1 especially at public sales where the tapestry is hung on the wall1 sometimes very high up1 on purpose to defy close inspection4 ,there is also a method of fixing the pastel retouch with an atomizer and a certain liquid sold in ,paris1 but even these means are not so effective as milk and tempera1 and hard rubbing with a white cloth will always reveal the deception when pastel has been used4 ,rugs1 particularly ,oriental rugs1 belong in a way to the same family as tapestry and may be classified with it4 ,there is this difference1 however3 being less complicated in character and for the most part adorned only with geometrical patterns and rudimentary arabesques1 rugs are imitated with greater facility4 ,things do not change so quickly in the ,east as in ,western countries1 and there the old weaving apparatus is still in use and materials are only just beginning to be imported from ,europe4 ,a large field is thus opened up to imitation1 and to a certain extent to faking also4 ,it is nevertheless hard to deceive experts and specialists4 ,keen-eyed and accustomed to distinguish between different kinds1 and to judge of age1 they are also able to detect modern frauds4 ,but1 alas1 good experts are rare and conceited collectors abound1 and for this reason fraud is rampant and remunerative1 even in this field4 ,those buying rugs for the sake of having a collection and not to furnish their houses with a comfortable and highly artistic luxury are advised to place themselves in the hands of an expert4 ,it will save time and trouble4 ,an eclectic collector1 however gifted1 will rarely consent to go deeply into this branch1 as the mastery of it implies great sacrifice of time and the boredom of learning a difficult language1 things that prove no obstacle to the passionate lover of the speciality1 but tedious and irksome to the general art lover4 ,following an erratic course in this chapter1 we will now pass on to books1 manuscripts and autographs1 a branch with many devotees and all kinds of collectors1 in which trickery and faking find an almost incredibly large sphere of action4 ,book collectors are of two kinds1 the one who prizes the work for the rarity of the edition1 and the other who is attracted by the binding4 ,the former is the true book collector1 the latter is really only a collector of rare and artistic bindings4 ,the two preferences do not mutually exclude one another1 of course1 and when found together offer the most complete kind of book collector4 ,it might be imagined that imitations in this branch would be confined to such pieces as only require the faker's shrewdness and imitative skill and not the great amount of work and money demanded by the reproduction of a whole edition1 but this is not the case4 ,as soon as fashion--sovereign and despotic in this department also1 taste and art being secondary--sets a value on what is called a rare edition1 false ones find that the work pays and imitations are thrown upon the market at once4 ,about the end of the eighteenth century a speciality was made in ,lyons of reproducing all the rare editions of ,racine's works1 while ,rouen acquired a certain notoriety in faking old volumes of ,molire with every detail carefully and accurately copied--quality of the paper1 the type1 decorative initials1 tailpieces1 etc4 ,that the labour was worth the trouble and expense is amply proved by the high prices that some original editions have fetched4 ,the first edition of ,molire's works1 dated #affi1 was sold in ,paris for #ae1jjj francs4 ,at ,m4 ,guy ,pellion's sale separate works bearing various dates were sold--,le ,tartufe1 #affi1 for #bbjj francs1 ,le ,misanthrope for #abbj francs1 and few volumes below this price4 ,fashion having set extravagant prices--the original edition of ,molire's works was sold at #gj to #ajj francs apiece at ,bertin's sale1 #ahhe--old incomplete editions have been completed1 and for the late-comers not in time for this half-genuine article1 full and first-class imitations are provided4 ,missing pages of rare volumes1 incunabula or precious1 highly prized editions1 are often supplied by the most skilful pen and ink work4 ,it is surprising to see how well the clever calligraphic artist can imitate the printed characters1 and how carefully and faithfully the missing pages are copied from some complete edition4 ,in a damaged edition it is generally the frontispiece that is missing or the ornamental title on the first page4 ,some of the latter are true works of art and require most artistic penmanship for their reproduction4 ,the illusion is1 nevertheless1 often complete4 ,paul ,eudel tells an amusing story of an expert who had not noticed that one of the pages of a certain work was a clever piece of penmanship added later1 but to whom the secret was revealed by circumstantial evidence which saved him from being cheated4 ,the work was so admirably done that the expert had not detected it to be pen work1 till he happened to notice a worm-hole in the parchment of that page whereas the preceding and following pages bore no hole4 ,as it was impossible for a worm to reach a page in the middle of the book without boring through the others1 he surmised that the hole must have been there when the page was done1 that the page was a later addition in fact4 ,once suspicious1 it is easy to ascertain the truth4 ,a closer examination showed ,m4 ,pourquet1 such was the name of the expert1 that the page in question was hand work1 and not print4 ,it is true that nowadays1 by means of photo-mechanical reproductions old books1 characters and illustrations can be imitated to perfection1 and there are also mills that can supply all sorts of old-fashioned paper to order1 as near as possible to a given sample4 ,experts claim1 however1 that such fakes are only dangerous for the inexperienced collector1 that a magnifying glass reveals the action of the acid in a sort of scalloped edge to the ink lines1 and that1 although well imitated1 the paper has a different grain when closely examined1 etc4 ,but it is1 of course1 understood that fakes are not as a rule intended to baffle the skill of the expert but rather to take advantage of the inexperienced4 ,the expert who gives his attention chiefly to the bindings of the books needs to be more of an artist than the other4 ,we know that editions1 too1 have their elegancy1 forms and tasteful simplicity needing1 as it were1 an artistically trained eye to enjoy their beauty and appreciate their value1 but compared with bookbinding their artistic quality seems to be of a more restricted kind4 ,in bookbinding1 art in all its decorative eloquence appears to claim full rights4 ,there are bindings of past centuries--more especially in ,paris1 where bookbinding has always been a grand art--that are really chefs-d'uvre4 ,as usual it is the unwary who in this branch also pays the highest tribute to fakery4 ,from the ,grolier bindings down to the last specimens of the eighteenth century1 imitation has a wide field of action for its versatility1 but according to experts the most exploited period is that running from the early years of the seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth1 one of the most difficult to imitate and yet one of the most profitable4 ,there are1 of course1 various ways of faking old bindings4 ,many have tried to fake the whole1 beginning with the fabrication of the ornaments cut in iron which are used to stamp the gilt ornaments on leather or parchment4 ,in the opinion of the connoisseurs of ,paris1 where these imitations appear to find their best market1 they are far from convincing1 being only intended for such as seek a certain decorative quality without pretending to be experts or collectors4 ,specialists say there are imitations of a far more dangerous character1 those composed of various genuinely antique parts1 those relying upon some authentic element in the process of making1 and original bindings fitted to other books which thus embellished and enriched fetch higher prices4 ,the first of the above operations knows no limits but those set by the material1 it may be a question of using old leather or aged parchment1 or of using old labels1 or of taking advantage of the characteristic coloured lining papers that modern industry reproduces fairly well4 ,here we have1 in fact1 the usual composite style with which a fanciful binding is made or a book put together out of various elements that are perfectly genuine1 but belong to different sources4 ,the second manner of faking in decorating the cover of a book is to use some old iron stamps for the impress on the leather of the binding4 ,some of these old implements that have escaped destruction are now used to advantage1 especially to stamp decorative coats of arms on imitation antique bindings1 so that the buyer should think the books have come straight from the former library of a nobleman4 ,the faker has used this trick successfully with ,americans particularly4 ,in this way the stamps of the ,sacr de ,louis ,,xv1 which are1 apparently1 still in existence1 have been used as a decoy on fine bindings1 as well as that of the ,rohan-,chabot family coat of arms perpetuating the supposition that books belonging to that illustrious family are still on the market4 ,the third method is called in ,french rembotage and consists1 as we have said1 of transferring covers from one book to another4 ,there are some good editions that have lost their covers and some worthless books with fine bindings--fakery repairs this injustice of fate by transferring the good binding to the more meritorious book1 a simple act of justice invariably rewarded in the world of fakery by the large sum that can be asked for the edition thus treated4 ,there are naturally many ways to discover the bindings that have in one way or other received the paternal and not at all disinterested caress of the faker1 but the best and safest way--shall we ever tire of repeating it--is to train one's eye to that helpful synthesis of judgment called experience4 ,newly coloured and patinated leather does not stand rubbing with a damp cloth like the old does1 modern gilding and modern stamping imitating antique designs are heavier and less clean cut as well as not so rich--qualities best understood by comparing modern work with the old1 for although the differences are slight they are1 nevertheless1 plain to the experienced eye accustomed to comparing old and new4 ,even rembotage1 the most difficult to detect1 may be found out by examining the way one part is joined to the other1 the peculiarities of the work1 etc4 ,all that can be said1 however1 to put the neophyte on his guard who may imagine that hints from books or special works on the subject are sufficient to assist him1 is3 ,go slow1 and if you are really anxious to have a good collection and prepared to pay good prices1 in the beginning ask the man who knows for his help--,experto crede4 ,it is obvious that no artistic temperament1 taste or knowledge of art is necessary in order to become a collector of autographs4 ,this class of collector1 who may boast an uninterrupted line from scholars to specialists1 has neither the assistance nor complicity of art4 ,consequently the faker1 who inevitably follows suit1 must have a knowledge of history in order to avoid historical blunders1 he must be acquainted with particulars connected with the personage whose autograph is to be forged1 and above all must be an expert imitator of other people's hand-writing1 in fact in him the art of forging signatures must be brought to the highest perfection1 for here documents are to be forged1 a succession of calligraphic characters and idiosyncrasies far more difficult of execution than a mere signature on a false cheque4 ,the aptitude of a bank clerk gives promise of a good expert in this subject4 ,studies of various papers according to epoch is not of such assistance here to the expert as in the case of books1 for there is still plenty of old-fashioned paper on the market1 enough of it at least to bear a few lines from a celebrated man1 the chief quality needed is experience gained by comparing originals with forgeries1 or better still such familiarity with a given man's hand-writing that its genuineness can be judged at sight1 as a bank clerk does with a signature4 ,there are some artists also in this class1 but not only is it rarer1 but their work deals less with autographs properly so-called than old documents mostly on parchment with illuminations1 etc4 ,stamp-collecting hardly comes within our sphere1 and represents rather a minor department of connoisseurship4 ,several books have been written on the subject1 many with valuable hints as to prices and with reproductions of the best samples1 etc4 ,we would warn our readers who may perchance be interested1 that every stamp of value has been faked1 that1 strange to say1 some of these fifty-year-old fakes fetch handsome prices and flourishing factories have been established to supply not only the rare specimens already acknowledged as such1 but to produce at a few hours' notice any sample despotic fashion may suddenly raise to the rank of a rarity4 ,art plays so small a part that the way to become an expert on the subject is to become an--expert4 ,beyond this1 which is only in appearance an idem per idem1 there is very little to be done4 ,experience consists of being familiar with the original1 the kind of paper used1 the colours1 peculiarities and also defects1 particularly the defects1 as when the stamps were printed that are now rare1 the art of printing was in its infancy compared with our times4 ,there is no occasion to speak of minor fancy collections that1 as usual1 form links between the true collector and the man with a mania4 ,even in these minor branches there may be more than one interesting collection1 such1 for instance1 as that of ,general ,vandamme who left his relatives no fewer than sixty thousand pipes1 and ,baron ,oscar de ,watterville's and others4 ,art plays no great part in these minor expressions of curio-collecting and science also occupies but a limited field4 ,one axiom may be given1 however1 which holds good for all classes of collecting1 whether artistic1 scientific1 or anything else1 and that is that as soon as the prices of certain articles come under the nomenclature of fancy prices1 through fashion or merit1 the faker is ready to hand4 ,in the ,paris world of fakers1 a larger world than the outsider may imagine1 an amusing anecdote is told4 ,learning the high prices paid by astronomers for bolides1 an inveterate faker called upon a well-known chemist to propose a partnership for the production of imitations of meteorites4 ,even if an invention1 the anecdote gives the full size of the faker's spirit of enterprise4 ,,chapter ,,xxv ,,summing ,,up ,with some show of reason ,swift affirmed that all sublunary happiness consists in being well deceived4 ,we are perfectly aware that this book does not support ,swift's ethics of happiness1 for while agreeing that the ,english satirist's theory may hold good on a great many occasions1 we claim an exception for collectors as a class4 ,in the world of art1 art lovers and collectors1 to be well deceived means to be living in a fool's paradise1 a most costly dwelling which promises no eternal joy4 ,on the contrary1 the happiness derived from being well deceived in this case is generally not only of very short duration but inflicts smarting wounds to pride and pocket4 ,in the world at large there seems to exist a certain benevolence towards deluded ones1 which makes it at times possible for the well deceived to be the only one of his entourage unaware that he has been duped4 ,in the world of collectors such a thing is almost an impossibility for1 to quote a well-known ,french art lover3 8,after pictures by ,michelangelo and specimens of ,medici ware1 the rarest thing to find with collectors is kindliness40 ,the same art lover assures us that in this peculiar world not only is kindliness 7bienveillance7 rare1 but the opposite sentiment has been developed almost to the point of genius4 ,collectors1 especially first-rate collectors who have finally emerged into fame through the complex resultant of a good eye1 shrewdness and extreme skill in fencing with strong competitors1 have a regular talent for flavouring bitter pills for deceived friends and comrades with troublesome innuendoes and smarting disclosures1 for1 as the above-quoted connoisseur declares1 they have a way of praising with 8praise that exasperates and with homicidal compliments10 and there is a type of collector who knows his repertory by heart1 a man who is a 8toreador raffin--il massacre artistement40 ,what the neophyte can do to avoid being 8artistically0 massacred1 as the ,french connoisseur puts it semi-euphemistically1 is difficult to say4 ,books and special treatises may explain the nature of the deceit1 point out the dangers awaiting him and show how traps are laid and how they work1 but to pretend to become a truly safe buyer on the security of knowledge gathered from books and manuals would be like attempting the ascent of some dangerous peak on the strength of wisdom drawn from works on ,alpine climbing4 ,the rudiments of the art do not concern so much the knowledge of how to buy as of how not to buy1 how to resist1 namely1 the first impulse1 which in an inexperienced art lover proves to be one of the worst dangers4 ,the slow1 prudent method must be learnt of not listening to first impulses till the first impulses are supported by something better than the innate conceit of a beginner4 ,we know1 of course1 that there may be occasions when even a beginner may have cause to regret not having listened to a first impulse1 but such a thing is further from the general rule than the beginner claims1 and in any case it pays in the long run to let a good chance slip rather than risk becoming the possessor of some expensive would-be chef-d'uvre4 ,in addition1 during the early stages in particular1 a certain amount of scepticism must temper a too ready belief in what the dealer has to say or show1 in support of his assertion4 ,there will come a time when experience will help the collector to detect more easily than at first alluring1 suggestive information1 etc4 ,naturally it is not all dealers who are on the watch to take advantage of the beginner4 ,on the contrary1 there are more honest dealers in the antique market than one would think1 but the trouble is that the dishonest ones seem to be to the fore1 to be ever there ready to confront the inexperienced novice1 and their noisy deceits become far more known than good1 honest dealing1 causing perplexity in some collectors so that it may be they disbelieve the man who is telling the truth and give credence to the liar1 who being a perfect master in the art of misrepresentation1 seems to be honesty itself4 ,here1 too1 the determination to be rather sceptical as to documents1 letters1 pedigrees and mercantile evidence may lead the beginner to miss some good opportunity1 but the case is rare and such losses are as a rule amply covered in the summing up of the total cost of apprenticeship1 through not having paid for experience the extravagant price usually demanded4 ,in due time the art lover's ability to discern between dealing and dealing will be sharpened1 and he will be able to defend himself better4 ,this merely concerns dealing and experience in distinguishing the genuine from the fake4 ,but even supposing perfection has been attained in this part1 the fact does not necessarily imply qualification as a connoisseur1 collector1 expert or even simple lover of art4 ,a collection may be composed of genuine articles and yet be a poor one1 utterly devoid of artistic merit or even commercial value of importance4 ,to have paid a high price is no guarantee of merit4 ,there are1 as a matter of fact1 perfectly genuine paintings for which extravagant fancy prices have been paid1 but which in the eyes of a true connoisseur are not worth the nail they hang on4 ,it is almost impossible to conceive that experience in distinguishing the genuine from the false should be acquired without the attainment of some artistic progress prompting discrimination between poor art and mediocre1 and mediocre art and fine art1 yet this artistic side is the most difficult to develop to that perfection and semi-intuition of the beautiful1 so necessary to the real and first-rate connoisseur4 ,by what method this artistic side may be perfected in the collector is still more difficult to tell1 for in this direction experience only counts to a certain extent4 ,in fact as regards this artistic education of the connoisseur we are inclined to repeat with ,taine1 in his ,philosophie de l',art3 8,precepts8 ,well1 two might be given3 first to be born with genius--that is your parents' affair1 not mine2 second to work a good deal to bring it out1 and that is not my business either40 ,here too1 then1 actual methods are out of the question4 ,they are1 perforce1 of such a general character as to be no more use than telling a blind man to keep in the middle of the road because there are ditches on either side4 ,it is1 further1 not uncommon for contrary systems to lead to equally happy results according to the person employing them4 ,one antiquary when undecided as to the genuineness of a painting used to have a photograph of it taken1 for1 he said1 he could easily detect the traits of forgery on seeing the work in black and white with all colours eliminated1 or1 to put it in his own words3 ,the faked side sweats out4 ,another connoisseur held exactly the contrary theory1 declaring that he could tell nothing from photos but needed the colours to help to detect the genuineness or fraud of the painting4 ,perhaps the former had an artistic temperament based chiefly upon the charm of form while the latter was what in art is termed a colourist4 ,in addition1 at times another misleading cause may be added which comes under the form of intervening suggestion and may put even a highly gifted artistic temperament off the scent4 ,perhaps an example will best illustrate this peculiar interference1 which is not only of a circumstantial order1 as we have seen in another part of this book1 but may be the result of an unconscious parti pris4 ,some years ago when ,mr4 ,stanford ,white imported works of art and antiques for his millionaire patrons1 a ,mr4 ,x41 who owned a fine mansion on ,fifth ,avenue1 very much admired an early fifteenth century single andiron that was among the imported goods4 ,he wished1 however1 to have a pair4 ,the suggestion that a modern copy should be made from the only remaining original at first disgusted him1 for everyone knows how easily ,american collectors buy imitations for originals and how disgusted they are if the dealer honestly says that a certain work is an imitation4 ,on being assured that the imitation should be perfect1 the new piece was finally ordered and the antiquary arranged for an artistically exact copy of the ancient andiron to be made in ,italy4 ,however1 possibly because not wishing to be suspected of concocting 8modern antiques10 or for some other reason1 the ,italian firm sent a perfect copy of the original in a brand new condition1 suggesting that a certain ,italian artist living in ,new ,york should give it the proper patina as he was fully initiated in the cryptic art of making new objects look as old as might be desired4 ,the art critic chosen to come and judge of the final result of the work was1 as the artist knew1 rather distrustful of ,italians and their tricks1 as he put it4 ,the ,italian artist did the work as well as it could be done1 and knowing that it was going to be judged side by side with the original1 the hardest test that can be inflicted upon an imitation1 he managed to cheat the art critic by being excessively frank and honest1 taking advantage of his prejudice against ,italians and a probable momentary mental attitude4 ,the two pieces were shown in the artist's atelier1 the imitation being placed by the artist in the full light and the original in the most benevolent corner1 far from the window in a half-shade4 ,the first thought that passed through the art critic's brain as he entered the studio was that the 8tricky ,italian0 had put the imitation where the light was less strong and the shade more benevolently helpful4 8,very good10 he remarked1 8but of course even when not in the full light an imitation is always an imitation40 8,but that is the original10 replied the artist1 for to make his positive assertion the more definite the critic had been pointing to the wrong piece4 ,a stony silence followed4 ,the story ends here and we do not know whether the critic ever forgave the artist his honest trick4 ,knowing that the art critic was a real connoisseur1 a good exception to the class1 we are quite sure that his judgment was perverted by the preconceived notion that the ,italian had placed the imitation in the shade and thus had hardly let his artistic temperament and knowledge of art come into play in forming an opinion1 or rather the opinion was already formed1 and too quickly expressed1 by a semi-subconscious process of reasoning that had nothing in common with art judgment4 ,so many are the special cases1 and so little the assistance generally given to new-comers1 that the safest method in conclusion is to have no actual method1 to watch and study one's own temperament1 value the first results objectively1 to be ready to learn as much as possible from experience under whatever form it comes and finally1 like in so many cases of human life and possibilities1 to work out one's own salvation4 ,in this way1 even if not called to the ,olympus of the elect1 the art lover will certainly reduce his bad bargains to a minimum--bad bargains in the way of buying the wrong things as far as the genuineness of the article is concerned as well as with regard to its artistic worth4 ,with this he must rest satisfied for1 as we gladly repeat once more with the ,nestor of ,french connoisseurs3 8,beware of the collector who never makes a mistake2 the strongest is he who makes the fewest mistakes40 99 99 99 99 99 ,as we have seen1 the genus curieux 7curio-hunter7 comprises a most complex and multiform assembly of types4 ,from the distant ages of ,roman dominion down to our times1 collectomania has produced characters graduated in originality from the grotesque to the tragic1 the false to the genuine1 the sordid or wicked like ,mark ,antony and ,verres to noble representatives like ,julius ,csar1 ,augustus and ,agrippa4 ,curiously enough the noble type of collector and the usefulness of his mission have generally escaped the observation of writers of all ages4 ,they seem to have been quicker to see the grotesque side of collectomania than its utility4 ,martial1 ,juvenal1 ,pliny1 ,seneca and others are not dissimilar in their remarks from--say1 ,molire and ,la ,bruyre4 ,so strong is the inclination to place the types in a grotesque setting1 to make them the target of witty sallies1 that they very often mistake oddities for signs of idiocy1 idiosyncrasies and peculiarities for craziness1 and1 carrying their analysis no further1 they let loose the vein of their satire on people whose passion for collecting has been of extreme use to the intellectual world1 greatly assisting progress and the civilization of humanity4 8,just like a donkey beholding a lyre10 gibes an old ,greek epigram in allusion to collectors who1 while buying eagerly1 give so little time1 or none at all1 to the enjoyment of the artistic merits of their acquisitions4 ,addressing one of his contemporaries who had a passion for collecting manuscripts and volumes but no inclination to read them1 ,lucian remarks3 8,why so many literary works8 ,do you collect them in order to lie on the learned thoughts of others1 or to paste the parchment of the volumes to your skin8 ,with it all you will not become a jot more learned2 a monkey is always a monkey1 even though covered with gilded garments40 ,to follow up the special case of book-collecting to which ,lucian's remark casually leads us1 the same sentiment as that of the ,greek writer was entertained centuries later by ,petrarch and ,robert ,estienne4 ,the former was a poet and bibliophile1 the latter a famous printer1 author of the ,thesauros lingu latin4 ,the two did not spare satires on the mere collector of books4 ,a like attitude is taken towards ,mazarin by a mediocre poet of ,la ,fronde1 who reproaches the ,cardinal with collecting books without reading them2 the same reproach that contemporary writers make to ,magliabechi1 a passionate collector of rare editions who never went further in a book than the title-page4 ,yet1 to confine ourselves to these alone1 to ,mazarin is due one of the finest libraries of ,paris which still bears his name1 and by his careful1 patient work1 ,magliabechi was the founder of the ,magliabechiana1 now the ,national ,library of ,florence1 a marvel and model of historical character to other more modern institutions of the kind4 ,these two persistent and passionate book collectors have certainly contributed more to science and its progress than many of those scholars who made fun of their hobby4 ,it must be taken into consideration that collecting1 after all1 is a passion1 at times a deep and firmly rooted one1 and that passion1 like love1 in its most exalted expression does not represent normality1 but while on the one hand presenting qualities of an intuitive character1 can be coupled with oddities and idiosyncrasies1 frequently the inevitable heritage of originality4 ,hannibal who stored his money in the hollow of the bronze statues of his collection1 ,sulla who put to death citizens to seize their rare pieces of art1 and ,julius ,csar who travelled with his cherished objects of virtu1 are known to us as collectors mostly through their peculiarities1 the amusing anecdotal side of a passion1 certain to be exploited by a writer1 be he chronicler or historian4 ,yet1 to go back to the unjustified and indiscriminating spirit of satirists1 both of ancient and more recent times1 which tends to consider the collector a maniac or fool1 many a ,greek and ,roman chef-d'uvre of art has nevertheless been spared to our admiration by the patient persistence and art-loving care of collectors4 ,it would1 indeed1 be interesting to follow the passage of some of the most noted specimens of past art4 ,if one could trace the true history of each one of these objects in all its details1 it would perhaps give us the history of the collecting passion together with tangible proof of its merits and utility4 ,it would1 indeed1 not only be interesting but also instructive to know the vicissitudes of some of the works of art that have come down to us4 ,the few hints existing as to the lineage of owners of some of the most famous pieces of ,greek and ,roman art1 certainly promise interest even though marred at times by the fact that much of the information rests upon the vague authority of tradition1 or is strongly doubted by modern criticism4 8,we owe1 it is more than possible1 the ,venus of the ,hermitage to ,csar2 the well-known #8,whetter' has almost certainly been saved to our admiration by ,lucullus1 just as ,cicero may be thanked for the #8,demosthenes' and the collecting passion of ,sallust has handed down to us the #8,faun1' the #8,hermaphrodite' and the #8,vase' of the ,villa ,borghese40 ,these remarks of a well-known ,french collector who mainly notes works contained in the ,louvre ,museum might be extended to many other collections1 especially those of ,rome1 where several of the works of art have old historical records of undisputed character4 ,from the ,renaissance down to our own days the pedigrees of celebrated works of art are not only surer1 but present at times a less interrupted line of descent4 ,with such it is not uncommon to find a rare object pass from one collector to another1 receiving the same care and consideration as though passing from father to son as a cherished heirloom--and it is1 in fact1 passing from one to another member of the same family1 the family bound by an identical burning passion1 that of collecting4 ,as to the essence of this passion1 so often confounded with mania--a mistake calling forth the following comment from a ,french collector3 8444 confondre la #8manie' avec la curiosit1 c'est prendre l'hysterie pour l'amour1 #8la ,belle ,helen' pour l',iliade0--we should like to quote ,gersaint1 one of the few men who as art dealer and collector in one1 what might be styled private dealer in modern phrase1 impersonated the passion1 as we have said1 in its highest expression among the many collectors of the eighteenth century4 ,it must be understood1 of course1 that ,gersaint1 one of these maniacs in1 say1 ,la ,bruyre's opinion1 was a representative of those passionate collectors who subordinate every other passion of mankind to the one they have made the sole aim of their lives4 8444 ,a curieux10 says this unilateral lover but not hobbyist collector1 8has the advantage of not falling an easy prey to the many passions so familiar to the human family3 the curiosit fills all the empty spaces of his leisure moments4 ,entertained by his cherished possessions1 he has time only for working at the advance of his curiosit1 and his cabinet becomes the centre of all his pleasures1 and the seat of all his passions40 ,the outsider and half-way-insider will agree that this is a trifle too much2 but1 after all1 the great collectors who have left to the museums of their countries fortunes that would have been lost but for their intense passion--treasures of art left by the ignorant to the doom of decay--have all felt1 more or less1 the burning passion described by ,gersaint1 in the passage quoted which goes on to assert that a true paradise awaits the perfect collector1 who is never bored1 and never the prey of spleen4 ,without discussing the promises held out by ,gersaint1 as the perfect collector is1 to our knowledge1 rare1 let us state that our book does not hope to urge any reader on to the perfection that ushers into ,gersaint's bliss1 but if the brief glimpse we have given of ,collectomania with its pleasures and dangers should convince some really passionate lover of art that collecting has a nobler aim than that of mere pleasure1 if we should discourage a ,tongilius or ,paullus1 or if this work should scare some modern ,clarinus and do away with a noisy1 useless up-to-date ,trimalchus1 we shall feel that the purpose of the book has been justified to some extent4 ,,index4 ,adamo da ,brescia1 counterfeiter of coins1 #fg ,adventures of a ,bric--brac ,hunter1 #add ,agar's1 ,mme41 collection of dolls1 #bia ,agesilas1 #ba ,aglphon1 #be ,agrippa as an art lover1 #ca ,alberti1 #hf ,alcohol as a solvent1 #bbg ,alexander the ,great1 #cg ,alluye1 castle of1 #ib ,altar piece1 ,rothschild's faked1 #bfb ,amateur marchand1 the1 #aag ,amber varnish1 #bbh ,ambras collection1 the1 #hg ,american collector1 the1 #ada ,andirons1 story of the1 #cje ,andrea da ,foiano1 #gi ,andrea del ,sarto1 #ii ,andreoli1 ,maestro ,giorgio1 #bej ,anne of ,austria1 #abc ,anonimo ,morelliano1 the1 #ih ,antiquary1 old and modern1 the1 #adc1 #aec ,antique1 passion for the1 #ga ,antiques1 the collection of1 in ,italy1 #hb ,apelles1 #bj ,apollo and ,marsyas1 #id ,apollo1 ,sulla's statue of1 #cf ,apollo1 temple of1 at ,delphi1 #bc1 #fa ,apollo1 the golden1 #ah ,aponius ,saturninus1 prtor1 #bi ,archological suggestion1 #afj ,aretino1 ,pietro1 #aag ,aristotle1 #ah ,aristotle1 bas-relief of1 #ia ,armour1 faked1 #bfi ,arms1 the imitation of1 #bfg ,art collecting1 spread of1 in ,europe1 #aaj ,art critic1 the1 #afj ,art1 influence of ,greek and ,roman1 #hc ,art in ,rome1 #bj ,art museums in ,rome1 #fa ,art sales1 #abh ,artist and erudite1 #adj ,artistic war booty1 #ba ,artists as connoisseurs1 #bhh ,artists at ,rome1 status of1 #bj ,aspetti1 ,tiziano1 #ih ,athens1 #ah ,atria auctionaria1 #bh1 #bab ,atrium1 the1 #dh ,atticus1 #dj ,auction room1 atmosphere of the1 #bad ,augustus and ,vedius ,pollio1 #eb ,autographs1 forged1 #bjj1 #bih ,baldinucci1 #bbe ,barberini1 ,cardinal1 #aah ,barbizet ,brothers1 #beb ,barguette1 la1 #aaj ,barocco1 the1 #aac ,bas-reliefs1 bronze1 #ia1 #bce ,basant1 #aca ,basilini1 #adg ,bastianini1 #ahb1 #ahh ,belli1 ,valerio1 #ih1 #ajj ,bellini1 #ajj ,beniviene1 ,girolamo1 ,bastianini's bust of1 #ahc ,biblical subjects1 #ajb ,bibliomaniacs1 ,roman1 #ej ,biographie ,universelle of ,m4 ,weiss1 #aae ,bisticci1 ,v4 da1 #ib 8,black ,band10 the1 #aga1 #ahj1 #bai ,boethus1 #cj ,boiss1 ,mme41 #bji ,bolides1 faking1 #cjj ,bonafedi1 ,signor1 #ahe ,bonnaff1 ,edmond1 #ajh1 #aab1 #adi1 #aic ,bookbindings1 #bif ,book collectors1 ,roman1 #di ,books1 #bid ,bracciolini1 ,poggio1 #ge ,brass articles1 patina for1 #bfe ,bric--brac1 #acj ,bric--brac shops in ,rome1 #bi ,brienne1 #aai ,briesco1 ,andrea1 #hg1 #hh ,bronze and other metals1 to give tone and colour to1 #bfd ,bronzes1 #cj1 #hi1 #bch ,brunelleschi1 #ge1 #hc ,brunellesco1 #ga ,brunswick ,museum1 the1 #ia ,brutus as a collector1 #dj ,brutus of ,michelangelo1 #ajc ,buffon1 #aca ,bullant1 ,jean1 #ib ,cafaggiolo1 #bdi ,calamis1 #df1 #ei 8,calcedonio10 ,niccoli's1 #gc ,calchar1 #ajj ,caligula1 #bi ,caligula as an auctioneer1 #bab ,callot's bad etching1 #abg ,camelio1 ,vittore1 #ia ,cameos1 counterfeit1 #eh ,candelabras1 #cj ,canvas for restoring paintings1 #bbi ,capodimonte factory1 the1 #bef ,cappuccino1 #bhb ,cardinal di ,san ,giorgio1 #hb1 #hi ,carncades1 #da ,carracci1 8,the ,deluge0 by1 #abj ,castellani sale1 the1 #bac ,castiglione1 #ajc ,catalogues1 first printed1 #aaf ,cathegus1 #be ,catherine de ,medici1 #aaj ,cavenaghi1 #afg ,cavino1 #ia ,cellini1 #ajc ,ceroplastics1 #bdd ,cesnola collection1 #bdh ,charles the ,bald1 ,bible and ,psalter of1 #ff ,charles ,,vi1 catalogue of1 #fh ,chasles1 ,m41 #aii ,cheese as a vehicle for colour1 #bcj ,chemistry's aid to faking1 #bfc ,chilperic1 a collector1 #fe ,christian and pagan subjects1 #if ,christianity and art1 #fc ,chronique ,scandaleuse1 #acj ,chrysogon1 #be ,chrysoloras1 ,emanuele1 #gb ,claywork fakes1 #bce ,cicero and ,art1 #ai2 imitation and fraud1 #bd2 pubilc auctions1 #bh2 a collector of doubtful taste1 #dj1 #da2 ,chrysogon1 #de2 citrus tables1 #ed2 public sales1 #baa ,cinquecento art1 #ajb2 velvet1 #bhi ,cinquecento collectors1 #ajb ,ciriaco d',ancona1 #ga ,citrus or thuja1 #ed2 qualities1 #ee ,citrus tables1 craze for1 #be1 #ed ,clarinus1 #cb ,classification1 #ach 8,cleaning10 #baf ,client and art market1 #ca ,clodion's clay groups1 #bjh1 #bch ,clodius1 #ca ,clotaire1 a collector1 #fe ,clovis1 a collector1 #fe ,craquelage1 on pottery1 #bee ,cressy1 influence of the battle of1 #aaj ,crieur1 the1 #bh ,crozat1 #abi ,coaches1 ,commodus' collection of1 #bab ,codrus1 the needy collector1 #cb ,coin counterfeiting1 #fg1 #ib ,cola di ,rienzi1 #fi ,collection1 a form of banking1 #fd ,collector1 the3 the home of the1 #ah2 and satirists1 #cb2 types of1 #cd2 rapacious1 #cg1 #ch2 ultra-modern1 #ada ,collectors and collections1 #ace ,collector's touch1 the1 #adf ,colouring marble1 #bdb ,commerce and art collecting1 #acj ,commodus' effects1 sale of1 #bab ,concini1 #abc ,condivi1 #ij ,connoisseurship and erudition1 #ach ,conquerors as collectors of art treasures1 #bb ,constantine1 #ah1 #fc ,constantinople and ,oriental arms1 #bfg ,copyists in ,rome1 #ei2 ,greek1 #ei ,corinthian bronze1 #cj1 #ea1 #bci ,cornelius ,nepos' statuette of ,hercules1 #cg ,corplet1 ,alfred1 #beb ,correggio1 the ,marsyas and the ,antiope by1 #aai ,correr ,museum1 #ia ,corvinus1 ,mathias1 #if ,cosimo ,i1 #ajd ,costantini1 ,prof41 #agh ,costumes and dress1 #bij ,coulanges1 #abd ,counterfeit coining1 #fg ,counterfeiting1 imitation1 and forgery in ,rome1 #eh ,courajod1 ,louis1 #hd1 #ib ,courtier1 the1 in ,rome1 #bh2 modern1 #afd ,couvreur1 #adg ,curieux1 meaning of1 #acf ,custom ,house officials1 #agi ,cut glass1 #bfj ,dagobert1 #fe ,damascening1 #bgj ,damophilus1 #ba1 #dc ,david1 statuette by ,michelangelo1 #ajh ,davillier collection1 the1 #ij1 #ie1 #ajh1 #adj ,dazzi1 the ,italian dealer1 #agi d',aunale1 ,duc1 #aaj de ,bassiano1 #ia d',este1 ,isabella1 #hj de ,genlis1 ,mme41 #acf de la ,porte1 ,armand-,charles1 #abj de ,limeville1 ,sieur1 #abg de ,svign1 ,mme41 #abe d',oiron1 faience1 #aji ,dealers1 traders and shopkeepers1 #aed ,death masks1 #ib ,deceptive surroundings1 #baj ,della ,robbia1 imitations of1 #bej ,delorme1 ,philibert1 #ib ,delphi1 #ag ,demasippus1 #be ,demmin1 #bea1 #bgc ,derutha1 #bdi ,devers1 ,joseph1 #bej di ,banco1 ,antonio1 #hd di mattonella1 #aef ,didius ,julianus1 #bab ,dolls and toys1 #bij ,donatello1 #ga1 #hc1 #hd1 #hf ,donatello's puttino1 #aig ,dondi1 #ga ,dreyfus1 ,g41 #ia ,drouot1 ,hotel1 #bad ,duchie1 ,jacques1 collection of1 #fi ,dyes for marble1 #bdc ,eclectic and specialist1 #ach1 #adj ,ecouen1 castle of1 #ib ,electrum1 ,helen's cup of1 #ah ,enamels1 faked1 #bei1 #bfj ,england1 rise of the passion for collecting in1 #aaj ,english furniture1 #bhc ,ennius1 #bb ,epitrapezios1 the1 #cf ,ereinteur1 the1 #bag ,eros1 the tearful collector1 #cc ,estienne1 ,h41 #aji1 #aab ,estienne1 ,r41 dictionary of1 #acf ,etchings1 margins for1 #bcb ,etruscan pottery1 #bdh ,eudel1 ,paul1 #ahj1 #aii1 #bjc1 #bch1 #bgc1 #bgh1 #bie ,evander ,aulanius1 #fj vangliaire1 a rare1 #ff ,evelyn1 ,john1 #aae ,ex-voto objects1 #bij ,exhedra1 #di ,expert1 the1 #afb ,fabius ,maximus1 #ai 8,fabius ,pictor10 #bj ,faked atmosphere1 the1 #bjg ,faked reputation1 the1 #bbj ,faker1 the1 #aid ,faker1 the jovial1 #bjb ,fakers1 the aristocracy of1 #hh 8,faking the milieu10 #bji ,faking in ,rome1 #bg1 #eg 8,faustina antica10 ,mantegna's1 #ha ,filarete1 #hf ,firminius1 #ca ,florence1 ,national ,museum1 #ia ,flute player1 the1 #hh ,fontainebleau1 school of1 #aab ,forgeries1 #aec ,forni1 #bcj ,fortunatus1 #fe ,fortuny1 ,mariano1 #bfh ,forzetta1 ,oliver1 #fi ,france and art collecting1 #ajg ,france1 art in1 #aab ,france1 seventeenth-century art in1 #aad ,frankfurt1 fair of1 #aji ,frederick ,,ii1 ,duke of ,mantua1 #ff1 #ii ,freppa1 #ahb ,friuli1 ,marquis of1 #ff ,fronde1 the1 #aai ,fulvius 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bronzes of1 #cj ,napoleon as an art collector1 #acb ,natali's imitations1 #ahb1 #ahe1 #aij ,national ,museum1 ,florence1 #ia ,nero1 #ah1 #df ,newton and ,pascal1 #bja ,niccoli1 ,niccolo1 #ga1 #ib ,nicomedes1 ,king1 #cg ,nieuwerkerque1 #ahb ,nolives1 #ahb ,nonius1 #ch ,numismatists1 #ib ,octavianus1 a collector of ,corinthian bronze1 #ea ,oeci1 #di ,orlandini1 ,prof41 #aib ,orleans1 ,duke of1 #abi ,oriental pottery1 #bdg1 #bdi ,oriental weapons1 #bfg ,over-restoration1 #bcd ,paduan ,school1 #ia1 #aif ,pagan art1 the worship of1 #he ,painting1 imitations in1 #ii ,painting1 transformed1 #afh ,paintings1 restoring1 #bbe ,palazzo1 ,riccardi1 the1 #ge ,palissy1 #bea ,palladium1 ,niccoli's1 #ig ,paolo ,veronese1 #ajb ,paris1 art sales in1 #abh ,parvenu collector1 the1 #hb ,pascal and ,newton1 #bja ,pasiteles1 #ba ,pastels and water colours1 #bcb ,patin1 #ea2 bronze1 #bch2 marble1 #bda ,paul ,potter1 #bcb ,paullus1 #cb ,pausias1 #db ,perenzolo1 #fi ,peristyle1 the1 #dh ,perronet de ,granvelle1 #ci ,pertinax1 public auction by1 #bab ,peruvian pottery1 #bdf1 #bdh 8,peter ,funk10 #bbb ,petrarch1 #ga ,petronius' collection of ,murrhines1 #ed ,petronius and art1 #bj1 #bf ,phdrus1 on faking1 #ei ,phidias1 #bj ,philippe-,egalit1 #abi ,photographing pseudo-masterpieces1 #afi ,piet1 ,zampini's1 #ahe ,pinacotheca of the ,acropolis1 the1 #di1 #ga ,piot1 #adj ,plaquettes1 #hh1 #ia1 #ic ,plato1 portrait of1 #ia ,plautus 78,menchme071 #bh ,pliny1 #ah2 ,gegania and ,clesippus1 #bi2 candelabra1 #cj2 ,nonius1 #ch2 the 8,young ,philippian10 #dj2 ,polygnotus and ,pausias1 #db2 ,scaurus1 #df2 ,corinthian bronze1 #ea2 patina1 #ea2 ,murrhines1 #eb2 citrus tables1 #ed2 as a connoisseur in bronze1 #eg2 counterfeit ,sardonyx1 #eh2 ,evander ,aulanius1 #fj2 ,pliny1 the younger1 on faking1 #ei ,plutarch1 8,sulla's private travelling god10 #cf ,police of ,louis ,,xiv1 #abh ,polish of faked furniture1 the1 #bhj ,politiano1 #gi ,pollaiodo1 ,antonio1 #hh ,polycletus1 #bd2 bronzes1 #cj2 cameo1 #gc ,polygnotus1 #db ,pompey1 a generous collector1 #da ,pontchartrain1 #abh ,pope ,leo ,x1 portrait of1 #ii ,pope ,sixtus ,,iv and the ,medicis1 #hj ,pottery1 faked1 #bdg1 #bec1 #bed ,pourquet1 ,m41 #bie ,poustales collection1 the1 #hi ,prco1 the1 #bh1 #bac ,prado of ,madrid1 the1 #hg1 #ib ,praxiteles1 #df ,precious stones1 imitation of1 #eh ,prices and values1 #adg ,prints and drawings1 faking old1 #bca 8,prioristi10 ,florentine1 #bji ,private collections at ,rome1 beginning of1 #bb ,procopius1 #fb ,promenade of ,pompey1 #db ,propertius and ,cynthia1 #db ,protective laws1 #aje1 #agb ,psychology of collectors1 the1 #bjc ,ptolemy's cup1 #ff ,public auctions in ,rome1 #bh ,public sales1 #baa ,quattrocento imitations1 #hg2 velvets1 #bhi ,quintilian1 #bd ,racine's works1 #bid ,radegond1 ,st41 #fe ,raester1 ,olga1 #bhe ,rameses1 the forged1 #bjc ,renaissance fakers of art1 #fh ,restorers and fakers1 #ei1 #afe ,restorers' workshops in ,rome1 #fj ,restoring paintings1 #bbf ,retouching1 #bbe ,reville's ,promptuarium1 #ib ,revolution1 ceramics of the ,french1 #beb ,revolution1 ,french1 influence of the1 #acb ,rhodes' pottery1 #bdh ,riccio1 bronzes of1 #hg1 #aja ,richelieu as a collector1 #aae ,ricordi of ,lorenzo ,medici1 #gh ,ridolfi1 ,prof41 #agh ,rienzi1 #ga ,rinuccini1 #gh ,rochefort1 ,henri1 #afb1 #bad ,rolland1 ,mme41 #aej ,roman busts1 imitations of1 #ij ,roman house1 the1 #dh1 #di ,roman1 the1 not a lover of art1 #ah ,romano1 ,giulio1 #aaa ,rome3 the home of the collectors1 #ah2 development of art1 #ba2 beginnings of private collection1 #bb2 fictitious art and fraud1 #bd2 freakish prices1 #be2 sept1 #bh2 public auctions1 #bh2 an emporium of art1 #dd2 ,roman house1 #dh2 faking and copying1 #ei2 artistic life1 #fj ,rosary1 ,mazarin's valuable1 #aai ,rossini1 #bhf ,rothschilds1 the1 #aeb1 #bce1 #bfj1 #bfi ,rovertet1 #ajg ,rugs1 ,oriental1 #bic ,sacrarium1 the1 #di ,st4 ,martin de ,tours1 monk of1 #ff ,saitaphernes1 tiara of1 #bgg ,sales of art collections1 #abh ,sales and auctions1 #bjh ,salle ,lebrun1 the1 #acb ,salting collection1 the1 #aia ,sanson1 ,charles1 the executioner1 a collector1 #aaf ,sansovino1 ,jacopo1 #hi ,sardonyx1 counterfeited1 #eh ,satire1 on collecting1 #abe ,satyricon1 the1 #dg ,sauval1 #aaj ,savonarola1 #hc ,sbullettare1 #ahfn4 ,scaling of terra-cotta1 #ahf ,scarampi1 ,cardinal1 #gc1 #gd ,scaurus1 #de2 his atrium1 #di ,scientific and artistic pursuits1 #acg ,scopas1 #df ,seneca and art1 #bj2 collectors1 #cb2 bibliomaniacs1 #ej2 veneered furniture1 #ee ,sept1 the1 #bh1 #bi ,servilia1 #dg ,servilius1 #df ,svres1 museum at1 #bdh ,shaw1 ,bernard1 #adb ,shaw1 ,quincy1 #ca1 #ada ,shields1 story of the three1 #bga ,siena imitators1 #aia ,sigillaria1 the1 #ca ,signatures and monograms1 #aic1 #bjh1 #bca ,signorili1 ,descriptio urbia ,rom of1 #fi ,silver1 artistic1 during the ,french ,revolution1 #bge ,silver1 colour and tone of1 #bgf ,silver marks1 #bgf ,silver work1 #bgd ,silver1 wrought1 rage for1 in ,rome1 #be ,sisinande1 #ef ,sixteenth-century art1 #aja ,slang1 art dealers'1 #aei ,sleeping ,cupid1 the1 #hi ,smuggler1 the1 #aga ,sogliani1 #aaa ,solvents used in restoring pictures1 #bbg ,specialist1 the1 #ach ,spoon1 ,jacob1 #abg ,sposalizio1 ,correggio's1 #aah ,squarcione1 ,francesco1 #ga ,staedel ,museum1 the1 #if ,stamp-collecting1 #bii ,stanley1 ,h4 ,m41 #adb ,statues1 #ce1 #cf1 #cg ,stemmata1 #di ,strongylion1 bronze by1 #dj ,strozzi1 ,filippo1 #aja ,stucco duro imitations1 #bcg ,suetonius1 #bi2 ,csar1 #dc1 #bab ,suggestion1 influence of1 #agg ,sulla1 #bb1 #ca1 #cf ,supino1 ,prof41 #agh ,symbolic art1 #fc ,tabul auctionari1 #bac ,tanagras1 faked1 #bce ,tane's ,philosophie de l',art1 #cjd ,tapestries1 #di1 #bia ,tardieu and ,sanson1 #aaf 8,tazza ,famese10 the1 #hj ,tedesco1 ,piero di ,giovanni1 #hd ,tempera1 use of1 in restoring1 #bbh ,temples as museums of art treasures1 #ah ,textile material1 antique and modern1 #bhh ,theophrastus1 #ah ,thibaudau1 ,trsor de la ,curiosit1 #abh ,tiberius1 ,,ii1 #fe ,timonacus1 #dc ,tintoretto1 #ajb ,titian1 #ajb1 #abj ,tongilius1 the important collector1 #cd ,tortoise-shell as veneer1 #ee ,touchard1 #bdh ,tourists in ancient ,rome1 #fa ,trade and art1 #aej ,trait des plus belles bibliothques1 #aae ,transferring bookbindings1 #big ,trevoux1 #acf ,trimalcho1 #bf ,triclinia1 #di ,trouillebert1 #agj ,tuscany1 protective laws in1 #ajf ,uffizi ,gallery1 the1 #ij ,ulysses ,belgico-,gallico1 ,golnitz's1 #aae ,urban ,,viii and the ,coliseum1 #aje ,vaillant1 #aad ,valentino1 ,duke1 #ij ,valerius ,maximus1 #bj ,varnish1 imitating old and cracked1 #bbi ,vasari1 #hf1 #hh1 #hi1 #ii1 #bbe ,vedius ,pollio and ,augustus1 #eb ,vellano1 bronzes of1 #hg1 #hh ,vellano1 ,vasari's life of1 #ajj ,velleius ,paterculus1 #ai ,velvets1 quattrocento and cinquecento1 #bhi ,veneering in ,rome1 #ee ,venetian works1 effect of cleaning on1 #bag ,venus ,anadyomene of ,apelles1 #fj ,verres1 the greedy collector1 #bb1 #cj1 #ca1 #cg ,verrocchio1 ,andrea del1 #hh-ib 8,verrocchio and ,co410 #aij ,vicentino1 ,valerio1 #adc ,victoria and ,albert ,museum1 #if1 #ahe1 #ahh ,vindex1 the real connoisseur1 #ce1 #cg ,virgil1 #aja ,vitruvius1 #bj2 private palaces1 #de ,volpi1 ,elia1 ,prof41 #agh ,voltaire1 #acj ,voyage pour l',instruction1 ,verdier's1 #aae ,voyage de ,lister1 #aae ,voyage de ,montaigne1 #ajh ,vrain-,lucas1 #aii ,vulteius ,medas1 #bh 8,wall breakers0 at ,athens1 #ah ,walters1 ,h41 #ada ,warton1 #aaj ,weapons1 faked1 #bfg ,wax work1 #bdd 8,way for ,asses1 ,the10 #afa ,white1 ,stanford1 #ada1 #cjd ,winckelmann1 #cf1 #ec1 #eh ,wood carving1 colouring1 #bdc ,worm-holes in furniture1 imitation1 #bha 8,young ,philippian10 the1 #dj ,zampini1 ,ferrante1 #ahb1 #ahe1 #aih ,zenodonis1 a copyist1 #ei ,printed in ,great ,britain at ,the ,mayflower ,press1 ,plymouth4 ,william ,brendon ,son1 ,ltd4 #aiba ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained4 ,ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained4 ,the spelling and accent marks in non-,english text were not checked for accuracy4 ,index not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references4 ,page #bf3 ,missing opening quotation marks added before 8,think of it60 and before 8,well1 it belonged to04 ,page #aaj3 8,duke d',aumule0 is listed on page #cac of the ,index as 8d',aunale1 ,duc04 ,the common spelling today is 8d',aumale04