Truth and the Transunto: a copy of the Holy Shroud in Sixteenth-Century Bologna

'Truth and the transunto' investigates the use of a hand-painted copy of the Holy Shroud which found its way to Bologna in the late sixteenth century. Used by the archbishop of Bologna, Alfonso Paleotti (1531-1610), this copy was the source of observations of the body of Christ, in the manner of an autopsy and is presented in Paleotti's book Esplicatione del Lenzuolo [...]. Early modern copies of the Holy Shroud are not however accurate copies, but present seemingly simplified replicas of the original. This article explores how such information, and indeed, level of trust, can come from these copies, which, to the modern eye, seem fallible. Previous studies have excused the strange appearance of these Shroud copies by considering them solely devotional instruments yet as the article shows, Paleotti's use of such an object shows that the copies might be better understood in the context of early modern natural historical studies and illustrations. The article draws on scholarship which discusses the emerging interest for visual evidence in early scientific practice and shows how certain types of images and image-making practices were able to evoke the idea of presence and clarify the indecipherable. Demonstrating that Paleotti's copy of the Holy Shroud was not just a religious tool, but also an epistemic image, this article shows how Paleotti's use of the term 'transunto' could be used as a valuable tool in gaining a more nuanced understanding of the concept 'copy' in Early Modern Europe. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Introduction

The articles in the present volume are the result of two workshops held at the Norwegian Institute in Rome that are both robustly disciplinary, but simultaneously raise issues beyond the disciplinary bounds of art history (into philosophy, history of ideas and history) and archaeology (into criminology, heritage studies and contemporary sociology and politics). The first was organised by DniR-researcher Mattia Biffis in October 2019, The Art of Truth: Providing Evidence in Early Modern Bologna. The second section is based on a digital workshop organised by DniR-researcher Samuel Hardy in collaboration with the Heritage Experience Initiative project at the University of Oslo in October 2020, Handling of Cultural Goods and Financing of Political Violence. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585. Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

reality effect': the figure seen from behind in Carracci's art

This article focuses on Carracci's frequent use of the figure seen from behind in their graphic and pictorial oeuvre (i.e., in the frescoes in Palazzo Fava, in the Cloister of San Michele in Bosco by Ludovico, in the series of the body in art by Annibale, and the engravings Ogni cosa vince l'oro by Agostino). It claims that the figure seen from behind plays a rhetorical function instrumental to the Carracci's search for a new form of naturalism in painting. In particular it creates a 'reality effect' that enhances the naturalistic rendering of the pictorial composition. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

ultima opera di Malvasia: 'Il Claustro di S. Michele in Bosco' e la decorazione carraccesca tra finzione e verità

The Carracci's decorative vocabulary (from the early Bolognese friezes to the cycles of the Farnese Gallery in Rome and of the Cloister of San Michele in Bosco in Bologna) made extensive use of anthropomorphic supports, especially telamons and terms. Painted with a monochromatic technique, they deceived the beholder for their effective imitation of marble sculptures that illusively jut from the surface of the wall. While art historical scholarship mainly discussed them in regard to their chronology, attribution, iconography and their relationship with the Cinquecento decoration systems, their early reception still lacks a comprehensive assessment. This essay aims to undertake it through the case study of Il Claustro di S. Michele in Bosco, the last art-historical work by Malvasia. A section of this booklet is dedicated to the chiaroscuro"Termini" flanking the episodes of the life of St. Benedict painted by Ludovico Carracci and his pupils in the cloister of the Bolognese Olivetan monastery. Giacomo Giovannini, the engraver to whom Malvasia commissioned the illustrations included in the volume, also reproduced these painted sculptures in four etchings. By referring to a central couplet from the famous sonnet by Agostino Carracci "in lode di Nicolò Bolognese", he characterized Ludovico's (and Reni's) telamons as Michelangiolesque in their contour and Tizianesque in their naturalezza, as opposed to Annibale's terms frescoed in the Farnese Gallery, whose style Malvasia considered too harsh and dry ("statuino"). In this essay, Malvasia's notes on the cloister's telamons will be compared to his previous critical works and will be contextualized within the seventeenth-century Literature of Art and the coeval reproductive printmaking. As I will demonstrate, Malvasia aimed to restore the central role played by Agostino and Ludovico in the renovation of this decorative style, a role that was obscured by Annibale's growing fame in this genre of painting, particularly driven by the prints after his frescoes in the Farnese Palace published in the second half of the seventeenth century. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Providing evidence in Early Modern Bologna

This article provides a scientific introduction to the papers that are collected in the first section of Acta, originating from a workshop on "The Art of Truth: Providing Evidence in Early Modern Bologna" organized at the Norwegian Institute in Rome in October 2019. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

antiquities market we deserve: 'Royal-Athena Galleries' (1942-2020)

On September 13, 2020 a quarter of a century had elapsed since the Swiss and Italian authorities raid in the Free Port of Geneva, on the warehouses of Giacomo Medici, later convicted of involvement in cases of trafficked antiquities. Since then, many other raids followed on properties of other notorious antiquities traffickers, thousands of antiquities were confiscated from them and their invaluable archives were discovered and seized. The research on these archives resulted in hundreds of notable repatriations so far, but mainly in the enrichment of our knowledge about the criminal way in which the so-called ‘reputable’ members of the international antiquities market have been acting since the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which they completely ignored in practice. Despite the numerous occasions on which these ‘reputable’ members were identified as involved, even today they continue to act in the same way, some without any (or known) legal sanctions. This chapter reviews the illicit associations of one of these ‘prominent’ members of the international antiquities market, the ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’ in New York, a gallery run by the antiquities dealer Jerome Eisenberg, who has repeatedly been found selling looted, smuggled and stolen antiquities. I then present seven antiquities, most of them identified in October 2019, one in March 2020, soon before the retirement of Jerome Eisenberg and the closure of ‘Royal-Athena Galleries’ on October 31, 2020. This piece lays out all the relevant evidence from the confiscated archives and combines everyone involved to illustrate the network that ‘circulated’ these seven objects. This case study also highlights all the problems that are ongoing in this research field, proving that essentially nothing has changed since 1995, or even 1970, and we indeed deserve the (illicit) antiquities market we still have. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Ludovico Carracci a Roma

This essay focuses on Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619) and this reputation in Rome in his lifetime and afterwards. Well-known, but often overlooked literary and visual evidence on Ludovico's appreciation in Rome is brought to bear, in order to reassess his contemporary fame, superior to his cousins', as is suggested by works attributed to him in the main seventeenth-century Roman collections. His present-day partial disgrace is the result of a number of changes soon brought about by several factors, including the probability of untold doubts on his religious orthodoxy raising in the early seventeenth-century. His use of German prints especially in his late religious paintings may have a lot to do with this. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Tales of saviours and iconoclasts. On the provenance of "the Dead Sea Scrolls of Buddhism"

Academic research on newly discovered ancient Buddhist manuscripts is largely based on objects that come from the antiquities market and to a much lesser degree on objects coming from documented and controlled archaeological excavations. Despite their being unprovenanced, collectors and scholars often present such objects with narratives mimicking provenance. The use of the label "Dead Sea Scrolls" attached to archaeological material without connections to Judaism or early Christianity is a prevalent example of this scholarly praxis. In this article, we deconstruct provenance narratives associated with the undocumented Buddhist manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection and discuss their implications for research on these manuscripts and beyond. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Narratives of the provenance of art and antiquities on the market and the reality of origins at the source

This essay presents the findings of the International Conference on Handling of Cultural Goods and Financing of Political Violence and introduces provenance research that examines the market in Europe for antiquities from Asia and the market in North America for antiquities from Europe. It summarises findings, such as the involvement of violent political organisations, transnational organised criminals and politically-exposed persons (PEPs) in illicit trafficking of cultural objects. It also highlights some foundations for progress, such as enhanced traceability and due diligence in the art market, plus action and cooperation to respond to illicit flows as regional problems. On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.

Aldrovandi, truthfully drawing naturalia, and local context

This essay focuses on the 16th -century Bolognese naturalist and collector Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) and his enormous image collection of naturalia. Do these images present a specifically Bolognese form of visual natural science, and was his visual format of truthfulness new at the time? Did Local visual culture leave clear marks on Aldrovandi's image collection? On cover:ANNIBALE CARRACCI (BOLOGNA 1560 - ROME 1609), An Allegory of Truth and Time c. 1584-1585.Oil on canvas | 130,0 x 169,6 cm. (support, canvas/panel/str external) | RCIN 404770Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021.