by Jon Lackman | 8 September 2010 | Baroque/Neoclassical, Museums
In the Yale Alumni Magazine curator John Marciari “tells how it feels to discover a masterpiece”:
I cannot say that I knew what it was at first glance, but I knew that it was worth puzzling out. In the parlance of curators and art dealers, the work was by someone; it was attributable. Not only was it a work of great quality, but the painting was so confidently executed that it seemed to bear the signature style of a particular artist … [O]ne day, as I stood in front of the painting, it all fell into place in an instant. I distinctly remember the moment and my thoughts: “Wait. No. I know exactly what this is! This is early Velázquez! This is just like the Tavern Scene at the Hermitage, the picture in Edinburgh, the Saint Thomas in Orléans, and the group in London. This is just like everything in the Velázquez in Seville exhibition catalogue.” Everything was familiar: the drapery arranged in heavy folds, the naturalism of the figures and still-life elements, the way the figures emerged from the dark, the color palette. Even some of the faces seemed to be those of the models used for other paintings. I immediately told myself I was insane … Research adds support to the hypothesis that the work is by Velázquez, but there is not—nor should we expect there to be—a paper trail that connects the Yale canvas to a contract signed by the painter. The final judgment about the Yale painting requires a leap of connoisseurial faith … [T]he attribution will only be decided over time, as scholars have a chance to study the painting and give it their own long consideration.
In the L.A. Times, various individuals weigh in on the question: “What is a masterpiece?”