Beware of queens bearing gifts

New research reveals that Queen Isabella II of Spain (1830-1904) knowingly gave Pope Pius IX a fake painting of a 16th-century original in her collection. It has also emerged that ten years after her “generous” gift, the Spanish queen gave the original work by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo to King Luis of Portugal.

The deceit was uncovered by independent Portuguese scholar Hugo Xavier, who recently found an old album of photographs of paintings in the Ajuda Palace, a former royal residence in Lisbon. One of these photos, depicting Murillo’s The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, around 1650-55, has an inscription written by King Luis stating that the painting was a gift from Queen Isabella in 1865. Ten years earlier the queen had presented the Pope with a copy of the painting, passing it off as an authentic work by the Spanish master.

From the Art Newspaper. It took until 1958 before the Vatican "Murillo" was recognized as a 19th-century fake.

Posted by David on December 1, 2009 9:34 AM