Two days of infamy.
Around 10:30 p.m. on February 13, 1945, the sirens of Dresden (Germany) began to sound.
Allied incendiary bombs fell in an amount (3,900 tons) difficult to remember on a civilian city, converted into something similar to a
safe harbor
for German refugees.
A small copper painting (attributed to Cristofano Allori) that was considered the closest copy to the
Renaissance master 's
Maddalena leggente disappeared in the flames
correggio
(1489-1534), whose trail had long since been lost. Now, surprisingly, Sotheby's claims that it has found, centuries later, the missing original.
La Maddalena
was one of the most famous and copied paintings of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It is auctioned this Thursday (lot 23) in New York for an amount that starts at 4.5 million dollars (about 3.9 million euros, without commissions). Correggio was a genius. His use of color and drawing is only comparable during his time with Raphael.
Sotheby's, to justify its discovery and sale, maintains in the auction catalog note that the panel was in the Farnese collection from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th, first in Parma, in the Doge's Palace, and then in Naples. , in Capodimonte.
Later it came into the hands of a private collection in Virginia (United States).
It has been there since 1860. However, the auction house's statement omits a key piece of information that casts doubt on this discovery: this fabric was sold for $4,750 (4,200 euros at current exchange rates) in January 2018 at an unknown firm. American auctions: Phoebus Auction Gallery (Virginia).
The attribution that appears in that sale states that it is "a 17th century copy of the original in the Pitti Palace in Florence."
Sotheby's —in a digital conversation with this newspaper— maintains that it has discarded this data as “it is not considered relevant”.
In fact, the attribution is based, above all, on the opinion of the art historian David Ekserdjian.
"The first time the painting was shown to me was at Sotheby's, in early July 2018. They never told me its previous history," he argues.
And he clarifies, in case there are doubts: "I never charge for my experience."
"So, are you sure it's
La Maddalena leggente
?" asks the journalist.
"I don't have Correggio's cell phone, so I can't ask him," he says ironically.
But I am totally convinced that it is the original.
I know of no other experts who have doubts.
My first post about the artist is from over 40 years ago.
However, I am not the Pope: I am not infallible.
The price worries. If the work being auctioned by Sotheby's were Correggio's authentic
Maddalena leggente
, a starting value of $4.5 million would be low. The bidding house defends the appraisal. The auction record of the Renaissance master is 5.8 million dollars (5.1 million euros). "It is in line," underlines a spokesman for the firm. The whole story has a familiar air. It is reminiscent of the
Salvator Mundi,
whose most recent authorship is a tongue twister: Leonardo's workshop following a design by Leonardo and with Leonardo's participation. Date: 1507 or later? An enigma.
Historians believe that the original work was commissioned by Isabel de Este, Marchioness of Mantua (1474-1539) and called "the first lady of the Renaissance" for her work as a patron, who asked the artist for it due to his devotion to the holy. Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Ferrara, Hercules I of Este, and Leonora of Naples. Cultured. Since she was a child she translated Greek and Latin, she was an expert in classical texts and her circle, after marrying Francisco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, was an agora of poets, philosophers, writers. One could converse with Raphael, Titian or Leonardo (who drew it, after much insistence, in black and red pencil; a piece preserved in the Louvre).
Ekserdjian acknowledges that he does not know what type of wood the work is made of and the pigments have not been analyzed either.
“Almost all the Italian panels of that time —assuming that it is by Correggio— are made of poplar and painted in oil”, observes the historian.
To balance.
A Sotheby's spokesman clarifies that the painting has been X-rayed, an infrared reflectography and an X-ray fluorescence scan have been carried out. Enough?
an inexact science
Attribution is an inexact science.
Even geniuses make mistakes.
On his second trip to Italy (1649-1650), Velázquez—who had seen one of
the
maddalenas,
or perhaps the original, and admired Correggio—refused to buy
The
Education of Cupid,
another work by Correggio, because he thought the painting what they offered was fake.
Today it hangs, as an original, in the National Gallery in London.
When a work is on the market, the big international museums avoid making a public statement about it.
But one of the leading experts on Italian painting consulted by El PAÍS sees “traces of Correggio” (based on the image on the Sotheby's website).
Another is more direct.
“The painting is very poorly preserved.
There are things I don't understand: the brutal alteration of the blue of the mantle, her neck (because of its thickness and hardness), I don't like the leaves in the foreground either, too profiled compared to the
floral impressionism
seen in safe attribution boxes, the fairly black line that defines the contours of the left arm or the parting of the hair.
I don't even understand how bad my feet are."
In return: "I like how the paint has behaved over time in the crackles, which are close to the originals."
And the market?
Neither Jordi Coll, head of Colnaghi, the Madrid gallery that manages the probable Madrid
caravaggio
, nor the antique dealer Nicolás Cortés support the table.
"It is in poor condition and that makes it difficult to appreciate its quality," they agree.
They can be right, they can be wrong.
Attributing, sometimes, is impossible.
Perhaps we need more time, better technology, fewer economic interests and remember the funerary motto of Isabel de Este: "Don't expect anything, fear nothing."
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