the paint surface to H enry D ePhillips, a
professor o f chem istry at T rinity College in
Hartford, Connecticut, for analysis. “ T he
real clincher,” says M ayer, was the lead-tin
yellow T y p e I drawn from the background.
“ T h at was used in the Renaissance, but the
recipe w as lost. T h is pigm ent w asn’t
known in the 19 th century”-e rg o , a forger
couldn’t have used it.
Still, K anter remained skeptical. “ I
know from experience that it’s possible to
misinterpret technical evidence. So I asked
to see it m yself.” T h e moment he laid eyes
on the w ork, Kanter realized it was authen-
tic. “ T h ere w as no question that it was
a 15th-century object, and that all the other
versions I’d seen w ere modern copies o f
this relief.” W h at convinced him? “ O ver
30 years o f looking at Renaissance paintings
and sculptures,” he says. “ T h e process
o f aging from the 15th century until now is
a fairly consistent one, whether you’re look-
ing at drying crackle or the alteration o f
color value. Additionally, I have a lot o f ex-
perience looking at surfaces that mimic 15th-
century aging, and you learn w hat kinds
o f effects they produce.”
Follow ing a tw o-year renovation, the
C urrier reopened in M arch 2008, and the
beautifully conserved relief is once again
on display. I f there’s a lesson to be learned
from what M ayer calls “ a complicated de-
tective story,” it’s that, even in the “ c s i” age,
forensic evidence can reveal only so much.
C hem istry or connoisseurship? In matters
o f authenticity, as the song goes, you can’t
have one without the other. +
G im m e M ore!
currier.org
Antonio Rossellino
(1427-1479)
Madonna and Child
,
polycli romcd stucco on
wood frame {h. 54^ in,
w. 31 Vein}.
Examples of Antonio
Rosscllino's work,
remarkable for its natu-
ralism and sensitive
vivacity, from muse-
ums and churches in
Florence, Italy.
feb/maro9 american craft 03c
