Experts debate whether a very young Michelangelo really painted “The Torment of St. Anthony.”

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Forget your budding little artists’ portraits of Obama, and check out Michelangelo’s “Torment of St. Anthony.” There’s a fascinating—and somewhat frustrating—article in the New York Times today about the debate over whether he did, as a 12- or 13-year-old, in fact paint the portrait, based on an engraving. The controversy has been raging for 400 years or so, so I was expecting some decisive new evidence or angle to have occasioned the headline, but was disappointed. A recent cleaning has introduced some new data in support of the notion that this is the master himself at work, not a workshop production in which he might have helped as a pupil. But experts still disagree on whether the new revelations add up to proof: The “quality” (how’s that for vague?) of the work is clearer, the now-vibrant colors call to mind the Sistine Chapel vault, and there’s a “kind of emphatic cross-hatching” on some rocks that, according to an expert, is typical of Michelangelo. But is no one looking for tell-tale signs of immaturity? After all, even geniuses develop. On that score, here’s an amateur, totally anachronistic take: Look at the zeal expended on those demons, and tell me that doesn’t look like a brilliant young teenager at work.

Michelangelo, The Torment of Saint Anthony, c. 1487–88. Oil and tempera on panel, 18 1/2 x 13 1/4 in. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth.

Tags: genius, Michelangelo, Obama portraits, young artists

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Ann Hulbert Slate's books editor and the author, most recently, of Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children.

Comments

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By: beckham_250 | Sun, 09/20/2009 - 07:00

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good article

By: khemso | Fri, 08/28/2009 - 10:34

thanks for your article keep posting please don't stop
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Wow Its really amazing! I

By: johns | Mon, 08/03/2009 - 06:04

Wow Its really amazing! I cant believe that a child did this paint job. Painting is an art and painters are everyone but good painters like
San Antonio painter are very rare. Hats off to that child who did this paint job GREAT!

If, as Alessandra Stanley

By: Markweee | Wed, 07/29/2009 - 04:44

If, as Alessandra Stanley says, you're watching a show for its "free-floating vulgarity," it's refreshing when the participants are so gleefully shameless.
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Could A Kid Michelangelo Paint That?

Comments

تحميل برامج تحميل برنامج

By: beckham_250 | Sun, 09/20/2009 - 07:00

good article

By: khemso | Fri, 08/28/2009 - 10:34

I don't know how this

By: bananaripe | Tue, 08/25/2009 - 00:57

Wow Its really amazing! I

By: johns | Mon, 08/03/2009 - 06:04

If, as Alessandra Stanley

By: Markweee | Wed, 07/29/2009 - 04:44

Photograph of the cast of The

By: Markweee | Wed, 07/29/2009 - 04:44

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