- Spanish Forger
The Spanish Forger is the name given to an unidentified individual who, in the late 19th to early 20th century, created a large number of forgeries of medieval miniatures.
The Spanish Forger's works were painted on
vellum orparchment leaves of genuine medieval books, using either blank margins or scraping off the original writing. He also “completed” unfinished miniatures or added missing miniatures in medieval choir books. His works fooled many experts and collectors and appear today in the collections of many museums and libraries. Over 200 forgeries have been identified. [ William Voelkle, assisted by Roger S. Wieck, "The Spanish Forger," New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, 1978 (containing a catalog of known forgeries, with many images). See also [http://webtext.library.yale.edu/beinflat/pre1600.MS283.htm Spanish Forger miniatures in book at Yale] and [http://www.groganco.com/103post.htm 227 forgeries have been found] . ]Although he was originally thought to be Spanish, it is now believed he may have been French, working in Paris. A number of his forged miniatures have been identified as copied, with modifications, from those published in several French books published in the 1870s -1880s. [ [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/sreimer/ms-course/bibliog/bib-forg.htm Manuscript Studies: Bibliography (Forgeries / bibliographic fraud) ] ]
His works were very deceptive when created, but over time it has been recognized that the faces of individuals in his pictures have “sugary expressions” inconsistent with genuine medieval illuminations. [ Otto Kurz, "Fakes", New York,1948, p. 90. ] Some of his miniatures have also been identified as forgeries because they are of secular scenes that would not have appeared in genuine medieval religious texts. [ [http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/schoenberg/schoenberg_aoptext.html Penn Special Collections-Schoenberg Exhibit Arts of the Page ] ]
The Spanish Forger’s works were the subject of an exhibition at the
Morgan Library in New York City in 1978, for which an extensive catalog was published. [ Willam Voelkle, supra. ] His works are now themselves collected as forgeries, selling for several thousand dollars each. [ [http://www.groganco.com/103post.htm sale 103 results ] ]References
Images of the Spanish Forger’s works
* [http://www.library.ucla.edu/special/scweb/rouse/spain1.htm] UCLA copy.
* [http://www.barbwired.com/nadiaweb/photos/2006/03/10/forger_big.jpg]
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