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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Probe on authenticity of paintings starts: agency
Italian painter Paolo Porpora’s Flowers is exhibited in Taipei ‘s Huashan 1914 Creative Park yesterday after being repaired. The painting was demaged on Sunday when a youngster tripped and accidently punched a hole in the canvas. Photo: CNA
By Yang Ming-yi and Wu Liang-yi / Staff reporters
The Consumer Protection Committee is leading an investigation into whether the paintings at the exhibition “The Face of Leonardo: Images of a Genius” are authentic or replicas.
The exhibition has drawn wide media attention after a boy on Sunday tripped and smashed a hole in a 17th-century painting that is said to be valued at NT$50 million （US$1.53 million）. The gem of the show, a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, which is said to be worth NT$200 million, has also spawned discussion.
Committee deputy chief Wu Cheng-hsueh （吳政學） said the agency has sent its ombudsmen, along with Taipei City’s consumer ombudsmen and staff from the Ministry of Culture, to check the authenticity of the paintings.
The organizer has been advertising the show as an exhibition of “authentic paintings,” and if it is later found to be false advertising, be it because the paintings are replicas or they are not the works of the artists advertised, the organizer would be penalized according to the Fair Trade Act （公平交易法） and the Consumer Protection Law （消費者保護法）, the committee said.
The organizer would not only be required to refund all tickets sold, but would also face an administrative sanction and a maximum fine of NT$50 million if the paintings are found to be not authentic, it said.
The committee said that consumers could file complaints with the Fair Trade Commission, the Consumer Protection Committee and the ombudsmen of each city and county if they find the exhibition problematic.
So far, no complaint has been lodged, it said.
The organizer said in its introduction of the show that the Lucan portrait of Leonardo was found in southern Italy in 2008 and that the painting was attributed to Da Vinci because it “matches his painting characteristics in terms of age and techniques” and that “art historians in 2011 have publicly confirmed that it is a self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci.”
Many Italian media outlets have cited the organizer and reported that the piece damaged, Flowers, is a 350-year-old Paolo Porpora oil on canvas work, valued at US$1.5 million.
However, Italian newspaper La Repubblica posted a video and a picture online, alleging that the painting is the work of another Italian painter, Mario Nuzzi, in 1660, valued at about 30,000 euros （US$34,000）.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
