Annunciation
probably 19th century, in the style of early 16th century
Unknown forger Probably 19th century
Germany
This drawing is not what it appears to be. It shows a typical Renaissance subject—the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the son of God—and is executed in a technique common in Germany in the early 16th century. However, recent analysis has proven that this work is a forgery. An unknown draftsperson drew the composition on a sheet of old German paper datable to around 1500 but employed a blue pigment that was invented only in 1709. Created with the intent to deceive, the drawing passed through the art market and several private collections as an authentic 16th-century work.
Pen and brown ink, heightened with brush and brown wash, white gouache, and gold paint on blue-toned tan laid paper