King of the Confessors

[Guest Clive]

A great and thought povoking read about the purchase of the Bury St. Edmunds Cross, a masterpiece of medieval sculpture carved out of Walrus... now rewritten in parts.

 

http://www.forbes.com/2001/07/11/0711hot_print.html

 

"I wrote the original book in part," he says, "because I wanted to show people the real art world, a world of backstabbers, sharks and con artists--not the salon world of tea-drinking esthetes."

 

"It's as if Hitler and Michelangelo collaborated to make a masterpiece"

[Phil White]

Looks like a fascinating read. Thanks, Clive

 

I am very familiar with the cross. The first time I saw a photo of it, I must have stared at it for an hour. Having no understanding of Latin, I admired the lettering, it's style specifically, a great deal. Too bad about it's meaning. Sort of like finding out that an old friend is secretly a Nazi.

 

Phil

[Doug Sanders]

Clive- thanks. I've never heard of the cross nor been to the Cloisters. I'll go grab the book this afternoon and sit down for an enjoyable read.

Phil- I just viewed some closeups on artstor.com and the lettering is BEAUTIFUL. Another thing to add onto another trip to NYC.

[Karl Carvalho]

Aloha Clive,

 

I found the original book in a little public library, about 25 years ago, when I lived in a rural part of the North Shore. It opened my eyes to big art, big personalities and big money. A great story, I look forward to revisiting it.

 

mahalo

Karl

[Guest Clive]

Cheers Lads.. glad the post was of some interest.. it is a facinating story.. nobody comes out of it looking good but the cross is simply awesome.. despite its disturbing meaning.

 

Kindest Regards

Clive

[Ana Veler]

Sounds like a must read, both books do...

 

The cross is shown face and back at the Met: HERE. Unfortunately, not quite close enough to admire the carving or read on it.

[fkvesic]

I can't think how I missed this. The cross and its tiny figures are amazing; it's a great pity the inscriptions are so anti-Semitic.

 

I read Hoving's book many years ago and seem to remember disliking it for its use of purple prose, how the Met. skated over the question of provenance, the conjectures he made about the place of origin and maker of the work and the number of shady characters there were around, dealing in European artifacts, after WW2. It, also, I seem to remember, caused a storm in art history circles.