Fabricating the past at Hammond Castle

Abstract

Abstract During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wealthy art collectors in the United States amassed extraordinary collections of medieval and early Renaissance art, and, on occasion, unscrupulous dealers fulfilled the demand for such objects by passing off fakes as originals. The story of one such object is instructive in understanding the way that collectors pursued, purchased and displayed their finds. A sculptural bas-relief of the Virgin and Child at Hammond Castle in Gloucester, Massachusetts, was purchased as an authentic Italian Renaissance piece, but the revelation of its true provenance as a modern work by Alceo Dossena ultimately connected it to one of the most notorious cases of art forgery in the early twentieth century. This article discusses the case of Dossena and his artistic fabrications, but also reconsiders the role such objects could play in the creation of an authentic atmosphere – the goal of revivalist monuments like Hammond Castle.