Alceo Dossena Rosa Mistica
Alceo Dossena
Italian
1878 - 1937
Rome, circa 1936
Rosa Mistica
terracotta relief, in a painted wood frame
signed and dated: Alceo / Dossena Roma 1936' and entitled: ROSA MISTICA
relief: 65 by 43cm., 25⅝ by 16⅞in.
73.5cm., 29in. high overall
Catalogue Note:
Alceo Dossena is one of the remarkable figures—as talented as they are enigmatic—who have left their mark on the history of sculpture. Originally from Cremona, he learnt the craft of stone and marble carving at a young age and became familiar with the models of medieval and Renaissance statuary. From the 1910s and 1920s onwards, he settled in Rome, where unscrupulous antique dealers, such as Alfredo Fasoli, commissioned works from him in the style of the ancients and Renaissance masters such as Donatello, Mino da Fiesole and the Pisani, which they then sold at exorbitant prices, passing them off as authentic, to an international clientele including the most prestigious American collections and museums.
Rumours began to circulate as early as 1926 about sculptures by a contemporary forger, but the scandal did not break until 1928. Whether innocent or a skilful manipulator, Dossena claimed that his works had only been sold as authentic without his knowledge. He was acquitted due to lack of evidence at the end of the trial, and severed all ties with the antique dealers who had employed him. He then invited H. W. Parsons, an art historian and consultant to numerous American museums, to his studio, and gave him access to all the documentation relating to his work.
The man who was yesterday’s alleged forger went on to build a solid reputation as an artist; from that point onwards and until the end of his career, Dossena signed and dated his works. Alongside the Quattrocento-style works he continued to produce, he developed a more personal style, which can be appreciated in this relief. It is comparable to another work at the Musei Civici di Pescia, entitled Rosa Mundi and also dated 1936, which was exhibited in Rovereto during the recent exhibition dedicated to Dossena (see D. Del Bufalo, M. Horak (eds.), Il falso nell’arte. Alceo Dossena e la scultura italiana del Rinascimento, exh. cat., Mart, Rovereto, 3 October 2021 – 9 January 2022, p. 213).
Twenty years after Dossena’s death, the myth surrounding this charismatic figure endured, and the Roman daily La Tribuna Illustrata revisited the affair that shook the art world. In one of the photographs accompanying the article, Dossena is seen with two elegantly dressed women, evidently close acquaintances of the sculptor. The woman whom Dossena is looking at, on his right, is a Belgian baroness who at the time owned the present relief.
RELATED LITERATURE
"Roma scossa da una risata all scoperta dei falsi di Dossena", in La Tribuna Illustrata, no. 5, Rome, 1st February 1959, pp. 20-21.
Provenance:
Belgian aristocratic collection, at least from the 1950s;
Thence by descent, private collection, Luxembourg.
Alceo Dossena
Italian
1878 - 1937
Rome, circa 1936
Rosa Mistica
terracotta relief, in a painted wood frame
signed and dated: Alceo / Dossena Roma 1936' and entitled: ROSA MISTICA
relief: 65 by 43cm., 25⅝ by 16⅞in.
73.5cm., 29in. high overall
Catalogue Note:
Alceo Dossena is one of the remarkable figures—as talented as they are enigmatic—who have left their mark on the history of sculpture. Originally from Cremona, he learnt the craft of stone and marble carving at a young age and became familiar with the models of medieval and Renaissance statuary. From the 1910s and 1920s onwards, he settled in Rome, where unscrupulous antique dealers, such as Alfredo Fasoli, commissioned works from him in the style of the ancients and Renaissance masters such as Donatello, Mino da Fiesole and the Pisani, which they then sold at exorbitant prices, passing them off as authentic, to an international clientele including the most prestigious American collections and museums.
Rumours began to circulate as early as 1926 about sculptures by a contemporary forger, but the scandal did not break until 1928. Whether innocent or a skilful manipulator, Dossena claimed that his works had only been sold as authentic without his knowledge. He was acquitted due to lack of evidence at the end of the trial, and severed all ties with the antique dealers who had employed him. He then invited H. W. Parsons, an art historian and consultant to numerous American museums, to his studio, and gave him access to all the documentation relating to his work.
The man who was yesterday’s alleged forger went on to build a solid reputation as an artist; from that point onwards and until the end of his career, Dossena signed and dated his works. Alongside the Quattrocento-style works he continued to produce, he developed a more personal style, which can be appreciated in this relief. It is comparable to another work at the Musei Civici di Pescia, entitled Rosa Mundi and also dated 1936, which was exhibited in Rovereto during the recent exhibition dedicated to Dossena (see D. Del Bufalo, M. Horak (eds.), Il falso nell’arte. Alceo Dossena e la scultura italiana del Rinascimento, exh. cat., Mart, Rovereto, 3 October 2021 – 9 January 2022, p. 213).
Twenty years after Dossena’s death, the myth surrounding this charismatic figure endured, and the Roman daily La Tribuna Illustrata revisited the affair that shook the art world. In one of the photographs accompanying the article, Dossena is seen with two elegantly dressed women, evidently close acquaintances of the sculptor. The woman whom Dossena is looking at, on his right, is a Belgian baroness who at the time owned the present relief.
RELATED LITERATURE
"Roma scossa da una risata all scoperta dei falsi di Dossena", in La Tribuna Illustrata, no. 5, Rome, 1st February 1959, pp. 20-21.
Provenance:
Belgian aristocratic collection, at least from the 1950s;
Thence by descent, private collection, Luxembourg.
