Etruscan Forgery in the British Museum

Abstract

MEMORIES of an ancient controversy are revived by the action of the Trustees of the British Museum in withdrawing from exhibition in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at Bloomsbury the widely known ” Cervetri Sarcophagus”. The revived and extended interest in Etruscan antiquity, marked especially by the recent publication of Dr. D. Randall-Maclver's researches in the history and affinities of Etruscan culture, is, no doubt, largely responsible for the removal of a piece of which the antiquity and authenticity can no longer be held to be a matter of question, in view of the more critical examination to which details of design, structure and style can now be submitted in the light of greatly extended knowledge. Doubt as to the genuine character of the sarcophagus, indeed, was raised very soon after its acquisition by the British Museum as part of the Castellani collection in 1873; and it was pointed out in March of the following year that the inscription on its lid was derived in part from a gold brooch in the Louvre, while another inscription, which had been misread, was indicated later as another possible source. The spurious character of the inscription has been admitted even by some who were prepared to argue for the sarcophagus as a genuine ancient example of Etruscan art. Now, however, the recognition of anachronistic and incongruous details in form and design stamp it as a forgery beyond dispute. There can be little doubt that the story to which reference is made in The Times of November 2 embodies the truth which came out in the quarrel between the brothers Pennelli, of whom Enrico, employed at the Louvre, boasted that he had made the sarcophagus, while Pietro had sold it to Castellani, stating that he had excavated it at Cervetri. It is unfortunate that the inquiry demanded by Sir Charles Newton, keeper of the Department at the time, was not pressed home.