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Monthly Archive: October 2024

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Forgery, Imitation, Emulation: the Creation of Antiquity in the Renaissance

Zur deutschen Version wechseln The database of the Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture known in the Renaissance connects antiquarian drawings and the ancient works that inspired them, making these relationships comprehensible and accessible for contemporary art history and archaeology. Sometimes, however, the ‘Antique Monuments’ depicted in these drawings, if they do not completely elude identification, reveal themselves to be Early Modern works of art that were modelled on the antique in their content or theme. Either mistakenly, or deliberately, they were said during the Renaissance era to be ‘antique’ objects. Given the increasing ability of many artists in the 16th century to create their own works in the style of a glorified antique ideal, to copy surviving antiquities, or to supplement antique objects in collections with modern works, this is hardly surprising. It goes some way in explaining why many objects in museums today are of disputed...