Nice painting, eh?
Not so fast.
For a couple hundred years or so, “The Colossus” was believed to be the work of Francisco de Goya (1746 – 1828). Now, an official at the Prada Museum in Madrid thinks it may be the work of an apprentice. From Reuters….
The painting, which shows a giant naked male figure towering over a landscape of people and animals, shows poorer technique than Goya’s and bears a signature which may belong to one of his apprentices, Asensio Julia, the Prado’s Manuela Mena said.
See, I would think the signature would be a dead giveaway but, what do I know? Mena is the head of Goya restoration at the museum and he has the bona fides to elaborate.
“When you look at it in the right light … you can see the poverty of the technique, its use of light and color, and the great difference between ‘The Colossus’ and the masterpieces attributed to Goya,”
“The poverty of the technique”; that’s one you don’t want to hear when you tote your pawn shop find down to the Antiques Roadshow. “The poverty of the technique”, is polite, Goya expert speak for, “you got took, son”.
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