Summary

In 1565, the collector and art adviser Girolamo Garimberto congratulated Cesare Gonzaga on the recent acquisition of a series of ancient heads. In Garimberto’s words, what made this purchase so extraordinary was the “presence of an emperor [Geta] so rare, with his wife and two children, that, to tell the truth, this is an extremely rare and impossible occurrence, difficult to be arranged in any century, if not by sculpting them ex novo.” While approving the acquisition, Garimberto was voicing a deep concern: collectors’ high demand for “rare and impossible” works was encouraging the creation of forgeries. During the sixteenth century, for instance, the growing request for ancient coins with unusual reverses fostered a flourishing production of skilfully made fakes, which dealers were not ashamed to bring to the market that were still scorching hot. In such a competitive context, it was crucial to learn how to recognise an original coin from a fake, for instance by scratching the metal with the tip of a knife or hitting it to check its sound. As the market for antiquities boomed, so did the production of fake coins, sculptures, gems, inscriptions. This article highlights some of the problems scholars face when investigating the topic of fake antiquities produced in Italy during the early modern period. Through the discussion of some sixteenth-century forgeries, it also considers by whom and for whom fake antiquities were created, and what kind of expertise was required to identify them.

概括

1565 年，收藏家兼艺术顾问 Girolamo Garimberto 祝贺 Cesare Gonzaga 最近获得了一系列古代头像。用加里姆贝托的话说，这次收购之所以如此不同寻常，是因为“一位皇帝[Geta]如此罕见，带着他的妻子和两个孩子，说实话，这是一件极其罕见和不可能的事情，很难安排在任何一个世纪，如果不是从头雕刻它们。” 在批准此次收购时，加里姆贝托表达了一种深切的担忧：收藏家对“稀有和不可能”作品的高需求正在鼓励伪造品的创造。例如，在 16 世纪，人们对具有不同寻常反面的古钱币的需求不断增长，这促进了制作精巧的赝品的蓬勃发展，经销商们并不羞于将这些赝品推向市场，但仍然炙手可热。在这样一个竞争激烈的环境中，学习如何识别真币和假币至关重要，例如用刀尖刮擦金属或敲击金属以检查其声音。随着古物市场的蓬勃发展，假币、雕塑、宝石、铭文的生产也在蓬勃发展。本文重点介绍了学者在研究近代早期意大利生产的假古董这一话题时面临的一些问题。通过对一些 16 世纪赝品的讨论，它还考虑了由谁和为谁制造了假古董，以及需要什么样的专业知识来识别它们。随着古物市场的蓬勃发展，假币、雕塑、宝石、铭文的生产也在蓬勃发展。本文重点介绍了学者在研究近代早期意大利生产的假古董这一话题时面临的一些问题。通过对一些 16 世纪赝品的讨论，它还考虑了由谁和为谁制造了假古董，以及需要什么样的专业知识来识别它们。随着古物市场的蓬勃发展，假币、雕塑、宝石、铭文的生产也在蓬勃发展。本文重点介绍了学者在研究近代早期意大利生产的假古董这一话题时面临的一些问题。通过对一些 16 世纪赝品的讨论，它还考虑了由谁和为谁制造了假古董，以及需要什么样的专业知识来识别它们。