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Article: Michelangelo or bust If experts can verify that this marble relief is a self-portrait by the great Florentine sculptor, it would be a sensational discovery worth up to pounds 50 million. Alasdair Palmer reports
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- July 24, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Is it or isn't it? If it is, it is probably worth more than
pounds 50 million. If it isn't, it won't fetch one-thousandth of that
price. The factor that makes the colossal difference is simple: it is
the name "Michelangelo''. The hand of the great Florentine - perhaps
the greatest artist who ever lived - may have been responsible for
carving a marble relief exhibited for just two days last month in the
Tuscan town of Vinci.
I was lucky enough to see the sculpture for myself during its very
brief stint in the Museo Ideale, a charming private museum. The
sculpture itself is a tondo, or circle, about 36cm in diameter. At
its centre is a bearded head depicted in three-quarter profile.
It is an ...