Under an extraordinarily rare and exclusive agreement, Arte Divine S.A. has begun to privately and discreetly offer an opportunity to select collectors to acquire a limited number of bronze and cast marble masterpieces created from molds derived from Michelangelo’s original marbles. These posthumous sculptures are being cast in small limited editions by Arte Divine S.A.
The foundries selected by Arte Divine to produce the editions were chosen for their reputation for producing the finest art bronzes and for upholding the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship while faithfully abiding by the original artistic intentions of the artists.
Arte Divine, together with its predecessor company New Renaissance Art are the first in history to create a select small number of Michelangelo masterworks in the exact same dimensions as the originals and in strictly limited editions. Each bronze or cast marble is not simply a passable copy; rather, each is a rigorously faithful replica, which can take up to a year — from casting to surface finishing — to complete. As a result, these sculptures have been deemed as authentic and original.
For collectors who feel the history of art in the deepest way, this is an opportunity to own one of the world’s great masterpieces. Each sculpture carries a direct line of provenance and represents the highest artistic achievements of world culture. There is a balance of power and grace in Michelangelo’s seventeen-foot David. Passion emanates from his famous life-size Pietà. And who has stood before Michelangelo’s Moses without being held in awe?
This historic project, which focuses on Michelangelo masterpieces of sculpture, has met the standards and approval of the museum world for two inseparable reasons. The first reason is provenance. The Italian museum collections that are the source of the vintage original sculptures provide impeccable provenance, including the Vatican Museums, Casa Buonarroti, the Duomo of Siena, the Bargello National Museum in Florence, and the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Florence. The second reason is quality. Arte Divine’s craftsmen’s faithfulness to the best practices of casting and finishing is a critical reassurance for for collectors. Arte Divine starts with molds that have been preserved in pristine physical condition. In fact, in the casts tiniest details, such as veins, can be seen. Each sculpture proudly bears the Arte Divine mark as well as its unique number within the strictly limited edition and the year in which it was cast.
Arte Divine has embarked on a project that has not only been approved and embraced by the Italian museum community but will, in retrospect, come to be judged of great importance within the scope of art history.
INTRODUCTION
This report describes a project begun in 2001 by David Newren of Arte Divine to create a collection of bronze and Marble masterworks cast from Michelangelo’s original marble sculptures, in small strictly limited editions. The collection is comprised of 19 sculptures, which are exact replicas in every detail of 19 original masterpieces of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Many of the sculptures in the Arte Divine Michelangelo Collection hold iconic stature in art history.
The collection is comprised of Michelangelo’s; 1. David 2. Moses 3. Bacchus 4. Rome Pieta 5. Rodinandini Pieta 6. Florentine Pieta 7. Medici Madonna 8. Bruges Madonna 9. Madonna of the Steps 10. Risen Christ 11. Battle of the Centaurs 12. Tondi Pitti 13. Tondo Taddi 14. Bust of Michelangelo 15. Bust of Juliano 16. Bust of Lorenzo 17. Bust of Brutis 18. Apollo David and 19. Angel with Candle stick. the marble originals of which are located in museums and churches in Europe.
PERCEPTION AND PRECEDENTS
In order to better understand the nature of this project, it is important to review how historical precedents have informed current perceptions. Beginning in the mid 19th century, enterprising art dealers and foundries created reproductions of some of these same sculptures, typically in reduced sizes. However, Arte Divine is the first to create authorized limited editions in the exact same dimensions as the originals because they are from molds derived from the original sculptures. Critical to this project is the fact that the editions are also strictly limited in quantity. For example, each of the Michelangelo sculptures will be created in a strictly limited edition not to exceed 112 examples.
Many of the sculptures in the Arte Divine Collection hold iconic stature in art history. It is important to examine two critical issues that are essential to the integrity and authenticity of the Arte Divine posthumous castings. These are:
1) the history of posthumous bronzes, which are reduced in dimensions, cast in unlimited quantities, and typically of inferior quality; and 2) the accepted 20th century practice of life-sized, strictly limited editions, clearly marked and documented, that are faithful to the vintage originals in every detail.
MARKET HISTORY OF LEGITIMATE POSTHUMOUS BRONZES
Every year, hundreds of posthumous bronze statuettes are described in auction catalogues with qualifiers, such as being “After” or “in the manner of” famous Renaissance sculptors. These are not forgeries. Rather, they are simply replicas in reduced sizes, and were likely produced in the 19th century.
It is important to examine the market history for bronze reproductions, sold legitimately as posthumous sculpture. The concept of the limited edition as a marketing tool is largely credited to the great French art dealer Ambrose Vollard, who employed it during the early part of the twentieth century.
However, the Barbedienne’s foundry in Paris, their editions of both posthumous and contemporary bronzes were cast decades earlier in largely open-ended editions, based upon supply and demand. Still, a key to Barbedienne’s success was, it became recognized for the highest quality of
craftsmanship. Albert Susse, the head of the important and eponymous French foundry still in operation, called Barbedienne the “pride of the nation” who “carried the splendor of our industry so loftily to all international competitions.” Barbedienne’s successor, M. Leblanc, continued to produce posthumous bronzes by Barye, Rodin, and the estate of Fremiet until 1952.
WELL-KNOWN POSTHUMOUS CASTING PROJECTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
The concept of authenticity bears heavily on the marketing of the posthumous sculptures of AUGUSTE RODIN [French, 1840-1917] and his contemporary, EDGAR DEGAS [1834-1917]. Rodin bequeathed his estate to the French government, which preserved his home in Paris as the Musée Rodin. By transferring reproduction rights to the French government, the museum’s formal legal opinion was that consent had been granted by Rodin to produce the posthumous castings. Further, they determined that Rodin would have deemed such posthumous castings as “legitimate and original Rodins.” Equally important, the opinion of the Musée Rodin was backed by a new French law, which stated that an artist or his estate was allowed to make up to twelve castings of any bronze sculpture in a numbered limited edition. In the event additional castings beyond the twelve are made, they are legally considered reproductions and the word “reproduction” must appear on the sculpture. As opposed to the reproductions, each of the castings from the edition of twelve may be called “original” whether or not they were cast during the artist’s lifetime, and may be marked as such.
The Musée Rodin continues to be actively engaged in producing “original” and “authentic” bronzes from the dozens of plaster models that were never cast during Rodin’s lifetime. The success of the Musée Rodin is a positive market indicator for New Renaissance. Outside of the auction market, the market rumored that a small reduction of Rodin’s Thinker (gold-plated bronze) in a small edition sold out at $1,000,000 each in China.
The art market is well-aware that DEGAS made many sculptures but he only exhibited one piece in his lifetime, in 1881. After his death in 1917, as many as 74 small figural sculptures in wax, clay, and plaster were found in his studio. The artist’s estate had these works cast in bronze, and some even bear the artist’s “estate signature” posthumously added. These posthumous sculptures are owned by many museums (including a significant collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and have been exhibited extensively with no hesitation from curators or directors about calling them “original” and “authentic” works by Degas. The quantity of these posthumous sculptures is much smaller than that in the Rodin market. In 1999, Degas’ Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, which was cast in 1922, fetched a record $12.4 million and in 2010 another of the castings was auctioned for $19.0 million. At least 29 bronze castings were produced between 1922 and 1935.
The third example of posthumous bronzes that has been prominent in the art press is that of Henri Matisse, a large bronze sculpture of a woman’s back by Henri Matisse, Nu de Dos, 4 État (Back IV), sold for
$48.8 Million. Matisse is known to have made four different versions of the famous Backs from 1909 to 1930.
Each was conceived in an edition of 12. So if you add up the 48 Backs and multiply by $48.8 million, the value of the entire body is a whopping $2.35 billion. Prices like this occur when most of the works are already locked up in
museums. And many of the existing Backs are in full sets of four at major museums like the Tate, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and, above all, the Museum of Modern Art.
Of the 48 works in the series, only five examples were made during the artist’s lifetime (MoMA owns three of the five). Matisse produced three editions of Back #1, and a single edition each of #3 and #4. But he never produced #2. In total, 43 of the 48 Matisse Backs that exist are posthumous casts, works the artist never saw or validated with his own eyes. The Matisse Back that soared at Christie’s was not cast until 1978, long after his death in 1954.
THE ARTE DIVINE ETHICAL CRITERIA REINFORCING MARKETING
“As editors, we are convinced that the replication of sculptural imagery has played a fundamental rather than a marginal role in the history of Western art. The variety of approach from one contributor to another reveals how acknowledgement of replication, far from diminishing the interests objects hold for us, as we might perhaps fear, enriches their fascination.”
— Art Cult Magazine, France
A review of ethical criteria for posthumous casting enhances the Arte Divine marketing strategy. In 1974, the Association of Art Museum Directors issued a “Statement on Standards for Sculptural Reproduction and Preventive Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze.” In 1978, the French government passed a limited edition law for posthumous castings. To summarize these laws, and the AAMD opinion (and that of most scholars and curators worldwide), it is perfectly legitimate to produce posthumous casts when three basic criteria are met:
1) The original artistic intention of the artist is respected
- the highest quality standards are met
- full disclosure is given on the year and method of casting, and the quantity
Through his connoisseurship and his exacting quality standards David Newren, makes certain that the Arte Divine project abides by spirit of the AAMD report, which recommends that the neutral term “posthumous cast” be universally accepted because it does not suggest that the artist authorized the casting but it also does not imply that the casting is simply a technical copy from an existing work. The report adds that qualifying information such as the name of the issuer, the foundry, the casting year, and the edition number, and the plasters used. In short, the museum world would approve of the way Arte Divine has approached its project.
Equally important, the museum world would approve of the word “authentic” for describing the Arte Divine sculptures because the word “refers to the required integrity of form and a direct line of provenance, but does not guarantee the work is an original.”
The following documentation accompanies every bronze sculpture that comes from Arte Divine:
- Arte Divine guarantees that the molds from which the limited edition sculptures have been cast are derived from from the original vintage sculptures.
- Strictly limited edition. Arte Divine guarantees that as soon as the fulfillment of the stated number of each edition has been completed, no additional life-size sculptures will be
- Retirement of Molds. Upon the completion of each limited edition, said casts are officially retired to the Arte Divine Gipsoteca Collection where they are stored and preserved only for the purpose of scholarly
- Each sculpture within each edition has a Arte Divine certificate of Authenticity stating the following facts:
- Foundry name
- Name of the Artist
- Original Medium
- Present Medium: (bronze; bronze doré, etc)
- Dimensions (height x width x length)
- Year the vintage original sculpture was created
- Year the sculpture was finished
- Edition marking: (specific edition number and the location of this marking on the base)
- Any additional castings beyond the stated limited edition size, such as foundry proofs, must be stated. That number of extra castings beyond the limited edition may be no greater than 10 or 10% of the edition size, whichever number is (For example, an edition of 12 can have only 1 extra casting, and it must be clearly marked as a foundry proof outside of the limited edition. For example, in Roman numerals: “FP I/I” or FP “I/ II”, where “FP” means Foundry Proof”).
- Any life-size casts previously cast for Arte Divine, New Renaissance Art or David Newren must be included in the total edition
11) Other Markings: stamps of Arte Divine, and any other markings, stamps, or medallions representing the source museums, and the location of these markings on the base).
ARTE DIVINE’S RETAIL VALUATIONS VIS À VIS AUCTION PRICES FOR MICHELANGELO
A vintage original sculpture or painting by Michelangelo has never appeared at auction — and it is virtually out of the question that one will ever make an appearance. The only vintage works by Michelangelo that have appeared at auction are a handful of drawings, and the highest price was more than $13-million set in 2000 at Christie’s London for an 8 x 9 sketch, “The Risen Christ.”
The strongest validation for pricing the Arte Divine bronzes rests in its approach to production and
marketing, which meets the standards and approval of the museum world. There are seven key factors:
- MANUFACTURER’S REPUTATION: Arte Divine’s distinguished history is emphasized in all marketing efforts. Both the planned documentary video as well as the subsequent book about the and AD’s planned Michelangelo traveling exhibition will be employed as very useful marketing
- CRAFTSMANSHIP & TIME: The Arte Divine craftsmens’ faithfulness to the period methods of casting and finishing is a critical reassurance, which provides very strong
- MOLD QUALITY: The excellent physical condition of the Arte Divine molds provides another critical reassurance.
- PROVENANCE: The museum collections that are the source of the vintage original sculptures are strong distinguishing factors for the
- TESTIMONIALS: Arte Divine continues to form strong alliances with its source museums and is gathering testimonials from those museums’ curators and directors, as well as distinguished art historians, regarding the historical importance and validity of the project. This ongoing initiative reinforces the strong scholarly foundation of the project so that it is unassailable by cynics and
- HISTORY OF MUSEUM PRECEDENTS: Marketing will describe the posthumous Renaissance and Ancient bronzes in other major museums around the world. For example, the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, has published a book about their extensive collection of posthumous bronzes collected by their eponymous founder, John Ringling [1866-1936]. As one of the major art collectors of the first half of the 20th century, Ringling felt very strongly about the importance and validity of commissioning the production of his large collection of posthumous Renaissance and Ancient bronzes. Arte Divine continues to research the whereabouts of posthumous bronzes in museums collections worldwide.
- BEST PRACTICES: Arte Divine marketing has closely associated its activities with the museum world, showing that its practices are of the highest integrity and encouraged by museums worldwide. Specifically, this means adhering to the ethics described above for posthumous casting, which center on respect for the original artistic intention, highest standards of craftsmanship, disclosure of the source collection and dates for the original plasters, year and method of casting, and imposition of numbered, strictly limited
In short, prospective purchasers must be educated about these seven critical points, which together justify and reinforce value.
PRICE STRUCTURE
Part of the due diligence process for determining the soundness of the Arte Divine RETAIL PRICE structure required an exhaustive examination of the AUCTION RECORDS indicates that the differences in the pre-auction estimates and the final sales results vary so dramatically that no other conclusion can be made other than auction prices are erratic and directly depend upon quality, provenance, and authenticity, the auction house cannot provide buyer’s with a critical three-part guarantee: authenticity, strictly limited supply, and highest quality. Arte Divine is in the unique position to guarantee all three. Arte Divine also guarantees the highest quality owing to the physical integrity of the molds, their standards of production, and their finishing processes, all described earlier. Plus, Arte Divine has implemented the rule of casting only in small limited editions that are of the exact dimensions as the vintage originals.
Considering the seven quality points described above — which are the critical distinguishing features that serve to validate and reinforce the retail price structure — the markup from production cost to wholesale and from wholesale to retail appear to be fair and appropriate. Note, too, that the Arte Divine pricing relates to significant casting costs.
A more accurate view of pricing would be obtained by examining the appraised fair market value of the vintage original of Michelangelo’s “Bruges Madonna.” With the caveat that such an appraisal would be rendered by many as invalid because the church would never sell the original, it is nonetheless entirely within the realm of logic that were it to be offered it would fetch in excess of $300-million.
While it is impossible to establish a retail price for a posthumous “Bruges Madonna” based upon a fixed percentage of the original’s appraised value, AD’s marketing premise is that it appears reasonable that the posthumous cast, made in a small edition, would be fairly priced at a few percentage points of the value of the original. Accordingly, the initial offering price of the “Bruges Madonna” has been set at $1 million. Going forward, the promotional process is expected to increase demand; accordingly, the original price will be increased in stages as the edition becomes exhausted.
AD SALES HISTORY
Based on the analysis above, it is clear that the strongest indication for future success lies not so much in past auction records as it does in the retail success already achieved as reported by AD’s President, David Newren, as per the examples below:
- Michelangelo’s Head of Madonna (from the Pieta) was produced in a limited edition of 500 bronze and 200 This was AD’s first marketing test. The pricing scale was such that the retail price increased as sales of the edition progressed ($15k-$17.5k-$20k-$25k-$30k $45k 60K).
MARKETING STRATEGY: THE FOUNDATION
In the preceding essay, we have described the history of the Arte Divine, the history posthumous bronzes, and the ethical practices adhered to in this project. This review serves underscore that all marketing for this historical project rests upon a scholarly foundation
The marketing plan focuses upon three mutually reinforcing efforts. First, a PBS-style documentary is being produced for two purposes: as an introduction for prospective collectors; and, it will be submitted to the appropriate television stations such as PBS. The documentary will take viewers inside the great museums of Florence where the original vintage sculptures reside, and where the museums’ directors will discuss their commitment to sharing their patrimony with the world. Next, the viewer will be taken into the foundry and David Newren will describe and show the fascinating process by which the sculptures are cast, and the painstaking method of finishing them by hand.
The second promotional tool is a major printed book. In addition to essays, a series of photographs of each sculpture, along with important detail images, will be form this book. While this book is a serious scholarly endeavor, for marketing appeal it will be produced in an oversize format suitable as a “coffee- table” book.
The third promotional component—which will utilize both the documentary video and the book—is the traveling exhibition to museums around the United States. These will be museums that have already held exhibitions of posthumous sculptures, such as those by Degas and Rodin. The project was first introduced to the Chief Curator of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, in the Spring of 2008. The Ringling is ranked as one of the top twenty art museums in America; and, it boasts the largest collection of posthumous Renaissance bronzes in the country. These bronzes were specially commissioned by the museum’s eponymous founder, John Ringling [1866-1936], one of the major art
collectors of the first half of the 20th century. Ringling felt very strongly about the importance and validity of commissioning the production of his large collection of posthumous Renaissance and Ancient bronzes. The Ringling bronzes are different subjects than those the Marinelli collection because they were cast for him in the 1920s by a foundry near Naples. However, the most important work in their collection is the large David by Michelangelo. Ringling’s David has been exhaustively used as a cultural icon throughout the Sarasota region. Ringling’s curator expressed strong interest in hosting the exhibition once all the elements—the book, the video, and the sculptures themselves—were ready. Accordingly, Ringling will be re-approached at the appropriate time) to sign on as the lead museum.
AUTHENTIC POSTHUMOUS BRONZES IN LIMITED EDITIONS
It was during the early part of the 20th century, that the concept of the limited edition was adopted, largely credited to the great French art dealer Ambrose Vollard. This concept placed a governor on artworks produced as multiples, thereby making them more valuable as well as bringing legitimacy to posthumous bronze castings.
The most significant step toward international ethical standards for the posthumous casting of sculpture was in established by the French government. When the great French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, died in 1917, he bequeathed his estate to his country with the stipulation that his mansion in Paris become the Musée Rodin, where his large collection would be preserved, honored, and enjoyed by the public. He also transferred all reproduction rights to the French government, which validated the production of posthumous castings. This stipulation was important because many of his sculptures, although completed in plaster or alabaster, were never cast in bronze during his lifetime. Plus, for many bronzes there existed only one casting. For example, Rodin never cast his famous Gates of Hell or his Monument to Balzac. The Gates of Hell, which was commissioned in 1880, was first cast in 1926 for the Mastbaum Collection in Philadelphia — more than a decade after Rodin’s death. In 1996, a second cast was made for the Musée Rodin.1
Thus, the Musée Rodin concluded that Rodin would have deemed its production of posthumous castings as “legitimate and original Rodins.” Equally important, in 1978 a newly-passed French law reinforced the museum’s opinion. That law states that an artist or his estate is allowed to make up to twelve castings of any bronze sculpture in a numbered limited edition. In the event any additional castings beyond the twelve were made, they must be stamped with the word “reproduction.” By contrast, the law determined that each of the castings from the edition of twelve may be called “original” whether or not they were cast during the artist’s lifetime, and their edition number must be clearly marked.
The French ruling was inspired, in part, by the Association of Art Museum Directors, which in 1974 had issued a “Statement on Standards for Sculptural Reproduction and Preventive Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze.” To summarize their opinion, and that of most scholars and curators, it is legitimate to produce posthumous casts when three basic criteria are met:
1) The original artistic intention of the artist is respected
- the highest quality standards are met
- full disclosure is given on the year and method of the casting, and the quantity produced in the limited
1 Robert, Danielle. The Art Newspaper, July 2001. Additional information may be found at rodin-web.org
The AAMD report recommends that the neutral term “posthumous cast” be universally accepted because it does not suggest that the artist authorized the casting but it also does not imply that the casting is simply a technical copy from an existing work. The report also calls for qualifying information such as the name of the issuer, the foundry, the casting year, the edition number, and the year of the plasters. Further, the word “authentic” is another appropriate term for these posthumous casts so long as their casting and chasing is of such high quality that they are closely comparable with the vintage sculpture. Thus, an inherent integrity of form is guaranteed, as is the limited edition, and the work’s provenance.
CONCLUSION
This historic project, which focuses initally on just 19 masterpieces of sculpture, has met the standards and approval of the museum world for two inseparable reasons. The first reason is provenance. The Italian museum collections that are the source of the vintage original sculptures provide impeccable provenance, including the Vatican Museums, the Duomo of Siena, the Bargello National Museum in Florence, and the Museum of the Opera del Duomo in Florence. The second reason is quality. The reputation of the Arte Divine and its history is important. Their craftsmen’s faithfulness to the period methods of casting and finishing is a critical reassurance for collectors
David Newren, President of Arte Divine, has embarked on a project that has not only been approved and embraced by the Italian museum community but will, in retrospect, come to be judged of great importance within the scope of art history.
AD firmly believes that only if the project is built upon a scholarly foundation represented by the four promotional elements described above can its value-enhancement strategy succeed.
Arte Divine shall be clearly distinguishing its sculpture from all other posthumous from any period. It is adopting the “best practice” conditions that have been approved and embraced by the museum community. I believe these tenets coupled with the proposed marketing plan will serve as the foundation for future success.
Regards, Peter
New Renaissance Art’s casting of Michelangelo’s Madonna
The modern castings of the bust of the Virgin Mary from the Pieta, allow an immediate and intimate access to a Michelangelo sculptural work, although in this form of a bust only they are de-contextualized from their function and symbolism for which they were devised. The Madonna castings are representatives of Michelangelo’s art, although with some loss of surface quality, color and texture. These losses are offset by the gain that intimate handling can bring and by these means, the sculpture can paradoxically become more completely known from the casting than the marble
Pieta could ever be in the context of the chapel in which it resides behind a glass wall, far from the viewing public where it is impossible to see it from most aspects. In other words these castings of Michelangelo’s work, far from diminishing his reputation, help to enhance it, by making it accessible to the public. The Arte Divine casting of the Bust of the Virgin Mary from the Pieta must be read for what it is: “work’s of an original edition of a Michelangelo masterpiece” created with the authorization of the Vatican who has owned the Pieta since it’s creation by Michelangelo yes, but a casting that also bears testimony to the period when it was produced as an object as well as to the period when it was conceived by Michelangelo.
The Greeks and Romans
As Postle notes, rediscovery of works that are indubitably Greek, from the sculptures of the Parthenon to the Riace Bronzes, fostered the view of Roman figural sculpture as an industry in large part given over to the manufacture of reproductions. Miranda Marvin’s essay forcefully argues, however, that the production of Roman sculpture was infinitely more nuanced than such studies have suggested, and the manufacture of facsimiles of Greek masterworks was merely one devise in the repertory of craftsmen who also employed reproductive practices to produce variants and pastiches. It is the relatively modern preoccupation with authenticity and genius that has caused a great deal of Roman material to be misconstrued. Like much art at any time. Roman sculpture may have thrived on subtle adjustments and qualifications to a range of conventional types: the pleasures it offered a viewer must have been fairly refined and totally at odds with an aesthetic that prized originally above everything else.
Twentieth-century anxieties concerning artistic integrity and commercial exploitation provide us with a second example of the importance of cultural ambience, this this time giving a fairly sensational spin to practices hitherto regarded as unremarkable. The making and marketing of posthumous Rodin’s (in marble and in bronze) has occasioned scandal and caused quarrels to breakout between normally well behaved writers on art. Similar worries have arisen in connection with unauthorized bronzes made from waxes by Edgar Degas, the casting of metal sculptures by Umberto Boccioni, Julio Gonzales, Raymund Duchamp Villion, Constantin Brancusi and many others
Much discussion on Modernism has also tended to pass over in silence the role reproductive techniques have played in art since the late 19th century. In part this relative neglect has been an expression of embarrassment with process that seem to obviously commercial to receive open admittance among writers on art. Variation and reproduction of sculpture have had important repercussions for the transmission of reputation and the establishment of an oeuvre.
As editors, we are convinced that the replication of sculptural imagery has played a fundamental rather than a marginal role in the history of Western art. The variety of approach from one contributor to another reveals how acknowledgement of replication, far from diminishing the interests objects hold for us, as we might perhaps fear, enriches their fascination.
Transference of an image from one medium to another is a resource deeply imbedded within the traditions of European sculpture that Michelangelo inherited. Long before Rodin, delegation of carving was customary. Especially during the execution of a large scale project, sculptors would be employed to realize models of clay, wax or stucco in stone. For the Medici Chapel, Montorsoli and Raffaele da Montelupo carved Saints Cosmas and Damien after Michelangelo‘s design as part of a program intended to be completed by a team of sculptors under the masters control. Current, certainly commercial, consensus would probably value the models Michelangelo prepared more highly than the completed statues.
On at least one occasion, Michelangelo made two versions of the same work. The Risen Christ set up in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in 1521 is the second carving of a statue first commissioned in1514. The first was abandoned when the sculptor encountered an unsightly flaw on the face of the figure, but it was not destroyed. Although it has now disappeared, it once stood as a collector’s item in the courtyard of the Roman house of Metello Vari dei Porcori, who had been one of the commissioners of the work. Though there has been a tendency to suppose that this sculpture differed radically from the second, there is no evidence to support the case beyond the presumption that Michelangelo would not willingly have repeated himself. Multiplication of an icon, far from diluting its cultic power, rather increases its fame, and each image, however imperfect, conventionally partook of some portion of the properties of the original.
In 1546, the French monarch Francois 1 wrote to Michelangelo:
Seigneur Michelangelo, because I would like very much to have some works made by you, I have instructed the Abbe of Saint Martin de Troyes (Francesco Prinaticcio), who is the bearer of this present letter to go abroad to collect them. If, on his arrival, you have some fine pieces you wish to give him, I have commanded him to pay you well for them. And furthermore, for my sake, I hope that you are happy for him to take casts from the Christ of the Minerva and from Our lady della Febbre (the Roman Pieta) so that I may adorn one of my chapels with them, as things which I am assured are the most exquisite excellent in your art.