A lost Michelangelo in Oxford?
July 13 2011
Picture: Campion Hall, Oxford
This picture belongs to Campion Hall, part of Oxford University. It has long been attributed to Marcello Venusti, a contemporary of Michelangelo. Now, however, an Italian art historian has said it is by Michelangelo himself. Mindful of the potential increase in value from £200,000 to many millions, Campion Hall will now send it to the Ashmolean Museum for safekeeping.
The art historian who has re-attributed the work has a track record of finding lost Michelangelos. He is Antonio Forcellino, perhaps best known for the '$300m Brooklyn Michelangelo' discovery in October 2010. That picture had also previously been associated with Venusti. Forcellino's findings on the Brooklyn picture were published in his book, 'La Pieta Perduta', in which it seemed to me that the picture was of such poor quality it could never have been painted by Michelangelo.
It is difficult to judge the Oxford case from the photos available, but I wouldn't be surprised if Forcellino's fellow scholars disagree with the latest attribution.
