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Italian, 'Portrait Group', early 20th century

About the work

This picture looks like an Italian Renaissance portrait but is in fact a forgery made in the early twentieth century. It includes elements found in the originals, such as the stone window opening onto a view of the Italian countryside and the view of figures in profile.

It was purchased in 1923 as a fifteenth-century work, possibly by an artist close to Melozzo da Forli (1438–1494). The forger added a stamp with a coat of arms in the top corner intending to suggest the sitters were from the renowned Montefeltro family of Urbino.

By 1951 the picture was recognised as a fake. Scientific investigation of the panel in 1996 revealed that some of the pigments used – including cobalt blue and cadmium yellow – were not available before the nineteenth century. The man’s cap, too, is more like a women’s hat fashionable in around 1913 than a Renaissance garment.

Key facts

Full title
Portrait Group
Artist
Italian
Date made
early 20th century
Medium and support
egg tempera on wood
Dimensions
40.6 × 36.5 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1923
Inventory number
NG3831
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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