our rediscovered painting. The sculptor must have
acted out of a sense of defiance, possibly taking
his cue from the famous hoax involving a fresco
depicting Jupiter Kissing Ganymede (fig. 8), a forgery
painted by Mengs in 1760 to the detriment of his
friend Winckelmann, who fell for it hook, line and
sinker, taking it for a genuine Classical work and
publishing it as such 18 .
Missirini in his Vita di Antonio Canova also
links the above story with the Venus with a Mirror,
highlighting the fact that Canova had begun to
enjoy deceiving the so-called experts with these
exercises in painting in the style of the Venetian old
masters. In this case Canova even delved into the
art historical literature on Giorgione:
ANTONIO CANOVA, Autoritratto di Giorgione,
particolare | ANTONIO CANOVA, Self-portrait of
Giorgione, detail
pittura antica 18 .
Anche Missirini nella sua Vita di Antonio Canova
ricollega la vicenda a quella sopra citata della Venere
con lo specchio, sottolineando come Canova avesse
preso gusto a ingannare gli esperti con questi
esercizi pittorici ispirati all’antica pittura veneziana.
In questo caso si era addirittura confrontato con la
letteratura artistica su Giorgione:
“Happy that his painting had been taken
for an ancient work, our artist turned to a more
subtle ploy, and taking a panel painted in the 16th
century, he covered it with a new painting. He
had read in Ridolfi that Giorgione had painted
a portrait of himself, and that that picture was
with the Widiman family in Venice: so using the
biographers’ indications and a few prints, he set
to painting on that panel the effigy of Giorgione,
planning to pass the work off as the original.
Prince Rezzonico was made party to the
deception, and so having caused the painting,
properly crated and sealed, to be delivered to him
as though it had come from his Widman nephews
in Venice, on a day that he was holding a banquet
he caused it to be unpacked in the presence of
Angelica Kauffman, Cavallucci, the restorer Burri,
Cades, Cav. Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi, Martino
de Bonis and other artists and connoisseurs, and
they all cried out ‘what a superb painting by
Giorgione!’The restorer Burri alone thought that
he could detect poor retouching in the right eye;
‘would that I could restore so well, ’said Kauffman,
‘and I tell you, gentlemen, that I see here a fine
drawing too, and that this tells us that when Titian
and Giorgione cared to do so, they could draw
marvellously well, in addition to their fine colour
and effect, which in this painting is admirable.’
Several very earnest witnesses to the event still
“Piacendo al nostro Autore, che la sua dipintura
fosse stata cambiata per opera antica, si volse a più
sottile accorgimento, e tolta una tavola dipinta nel
cinquecento, quella ricoprì d’una nuova pittura.
Avea letto nel Ridolfi che Giorgione erasi per se
stesso ritratto, e che quel quadro rimaneva presso
la famiglia Widiman in Venezia: s’accinse adunque
sulle indicazioni de’ biografi, e sopra alcuna stampa
a pingere in quella tavola l’effigie del Giorgione,
facendo pensiero di far passare quell’opera per
l’originale.
Il principe Rezzonico fu messo a parte di questo
inganno, onde quello fattasi recar la pittura bene
incassata e sigillata, come se gli giugnesse da Venezia
da’ suoi nepoti Widiman, in un giorno che imbandia
banchetto fece trarla fuori alla presenza di Angelica
Kauffman, del Cavallucci, del restauratore Burri,
del Cades, del cav. Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi, di
Martino de Bonis, e d’altri artisti ed amatori, i quali
tutti gridarono essere opera bellissima del Giorgione:
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