CARAVAGGIO 'S "THE CARD SHARPS" - CHEATING AT CARDS IS NOTHING NEW

"THE CARD SHARPS" - by Caravaggio?
A PAINTING ALLEGED BY SOME TO BE BY ITALIAN BAROQUE ARTIST CARAVAGGIO

I've chosen another painting for a new series of postings focussing on a different Italian object each month, but this time its an oil on canvas. I've selected it for three reasons. Firstly it's been alleged by some art experts to have been painted by one of my favourite Italian artists - Caravaggio  and secondly, since 2013, it's been the subject of an important court case involving issues of attribution and of course that being the case, money. Thirdly, on Christmas Day 2014 we visited an exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome which focussed on Sir Dennis Mahon's collection and interests in Baroque painting which included works by Caravaggio - though the picture I have chosen to write about was not on view there. There's been an interesting judge's ruling about the case in January this year which I will come back to, but where to begin with this complex story? - well it's probably best to start by describing the picture  itself.

Below is an illustration of the oil on canvas picture which was sold by Sotheby's at their secondary salerooms at Olympia (now closed) in 2006. It measures approximately 4' 6" x 3'. The composition shows three men engaged in a game of cards round a table, all of the action taking place close to the picture plane. The young man expensively dressed in black with a plumed hat carefully scrutinises his hand of cards and sits opposite his opponent who is of similar age. The latter young man is a "cardsharp" or cheat engaged in duping his victim and we can see he has his right hand behind his back containing cards. Additional cards are also visible tucked into the belt of his doublet and he has a knife in a leather holder attached to his belt. An older man, slightly behind the young man in black, looks over the player's shoulder and is making a signal with his hand to his younger accomplice.

The painting is executed in a very detailed manner making it interesting for the viewer to observe minute aspects of such things as the men's clothing; even slits in the older man's gloves are visible. The three men themselves have a naturalism about them which suggests the artist has used models when painting the picture; this emphasises the realism of the event. The way the composition is lit adds a dramatic note to the action and the psychological nature of the interaction between the figures is further enhanced by the nervous glance the cardsharp is giving his master. The subject of cheating at cards is an old one, but here not only do we have one young man trying to dupe another, but also the impression the cheat himself is being corrupted by his master. The tense atmosphere evident in the picture ensures the viewer is prompted to think about the possible outcomes of the event!

When this picture was painted it represented a shift in taste towards a new style of painting which would eventually be described as "baroque" by art historians and Italian artist Caravaggio was one of its leading propoents in the late 16th century. He would go on to use many of the techniques illustrated in this painting in his major works with religous subject matter for important clients many of whom came from the catholic church, but that's not the issue here.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Self portrait

As mentioned earlier, the painting was consigned for sale at Sotheby's Olympia saleroom by Lancelot William Thwaytes. The work had been in his family since 1962, but at the time of its appraisal by experts at the saleroom it was considered a copy of an original by the artist and catalogued as such. It was described by Sotheby's in the following terms according to Bendor Grosvenor in Art History News back in 2013 - The Cardsharps - "a 17th century copy after Caravaggio's original now in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas" At the time the painting had been appraised by Sotheby's in-house experts and Caravaggio experts including Professor Richard Spear of the University of Maryland - all of whom thought it was an anonymous copy of an original work by the artist and probably carried out in the 17th century. When auctioned the painting was sold for a hammer price of £42,000 plus buyer's premium, producing a total of £50,400.

The picture was acquired by Denis Mahon, the well known art historian, though I'm not sure if he was the original purchaser at the Sotheby's sale. What matters is that Mahon argued the picture was a work by Caravaggio himself, suggesting that the artist may have painted more than one version of the subject. There is evidence to suggest he did this on more than one occasion, for example in the case of the painting known as "Boy with a Lizard". Sir Denis himself died in 2011 and the picture had been loaned to the London Museum of the Order of St John and insured for 10 million pounds!!

Art Historian Sir Denis Mahon

In January 2013 the person who had consigned the picture to Sotheby's in 2006, Lancelot William Thwaytes, lodged a claim with the courts against Sothebys seeking unspecified damages, interests and costs relating to the price difference between the £42,000 realised in 2006 and what its true market value was at that time had it been deemed to be a work by Caravaggio as determined by expert opinion. In other words the claimant was suing Sotheby's for negligence for not undertaking the appropriate research on the work prior to the sale and advising him accordingly.

Sotheby's went on to issue a statement saying that "its view that the painting is a copy and not an autograph work by Caravaggio is supported by the eminent Caravaggio scholar Professor Richard Spear as well as by several leading experts in the field". These included Helen Langdon, author of the 1998 biography on Caravaggio and Sebastian Schutze, a professor of art history from Vienna.

So where did it all go from here? Well, on January 16th 2015 High Court Judge Mrs Justice Rose ruled on the case which had hinged on whether Sotheby's had indeed carried out enough research and advised the client properly about the work. The court had received testimonials from a variety of experts including Professor Richard Spear and others. The auction house had also undertaken ordinary and ultra-violet inspection of the work which had revealed no 'non-copy features' indicating no conflict of opinion with the other evidence. It may thus come as no surprise that, taking all of the detail into account, Mrs Justice Rose dismissed the claim outright. Her judgement stated that although both parties had admitted there was "no single ultimate authoritative voice on the attribution of Caravaggio as there is with some artists", she was firmly of the view that Sotheby's were entitled to come up with the opinion that the quality of the painting was not sufficiently high to merit further investigation".

It doesn't end there though. Having won the case Sotheby's are now claiming 3.75 million pounds full costs from Mr Thwaytes and on January 16th the judge ordered an intermim payment of 1.8 million pounds should be made to Sotheby's. Given that Mr Thwaytes had also employed a high profile firm to represent him, his own bill must also be huge, though according to the Antiques Trade Gazette it has emerged that the claimant may have insurance cover and 3rd party litigation funding. And will he appeal against the judgement? Well it would appear that hasn't been decided yet.

Articles consulted for this blog item include:

The Antiques Trade Gazette, p2, Issue 2176, 31st January 2015

Bendor Grosvenor, "Sotheby's sued over Caravaggio attribution" Art History News, February 15th 2013.

THIS BLOG ITEM IS NUMBER 26 OF A SERIES OF POSTINGS WHICH BEGAN IN JANUARY 2015.
Subjects range from the purchase of a holiday home in the little town of Citta dell Pieve, Umbria to geographical, architectural and art history topics connected to Umbria, Tuscany and Italy in general. Please register if you would like to be alerted to future postings, Thanks - Ian.