Portrait of Carlos IV, attributed to Goya, was sold in the art market for 7 million euros; Portrait of María Luisa de Parma, Princess of Asturias, another supposed work by the illustrious painter also went on the market for a value of 7 million euros. The surprise came when the different inspections showed that, in reality, both are altered copies of the portraits of the neoclassical painter Antón Rafael Mengs, whose originals are in the Prado Museum.
They are two of the five works of art in which the Historical Heritage Group of the Generalitat Police has intervened recently, false paintings that were attributed to the authors Francisco de Goya and Diego de Velázquez who tried to commercialize various individuals and which were removed to the market for a value of 76 million euros.
The Heritage group of the Generalitat Police began the investigation at the beginning of this year, when it was able to verify that those investigated were offering the works to different buyers through various art dealers in the provinces of Valencia and Castellón.
"Given suspicions, the agents consulted Manuela Mena, the greatest specialist in Goya, for their originality, who confirmed that they were forgeries," the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, explained yesterday in MuVIM, who reported of this operation, in which four people are being investigated as alleged perpetrators of fraud for selling four false Goyas and a false Velázquez, accompanied by abundant documentation that was also falsified to deceive and gain the trust of buyers.
After these works, the technical expert reports have been made by the technician David Gimilio, from the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia. Finally, on March 14, the police proceedings were presented at the Investigating Court of Valencia.
Along with the other works, Alegoría del Pilar de Zaragoza, another supposed painting by Francisco de Goya, which was going to sell for 4 million euros, was also running in the market. A work that the experts point out is of "poor quality", since it has not even been carried out by a professional painter. The fourth intervened work is Portrait of Mariana of Austria, an oil on canvas by Velázquez, whose market value was 50 million euros. The original is a full-length portrait currently on display at the Museo del Prado.
Lastly, the latest work seized is the painting Blessing of Santa Rosa de Lima, another supposed Goya, which was to be marketed for 8 million euros. The sketch, they point out, is not by Goya "neither for aesthetics nor for pictorial quality" and its authorship could situate it as an Italian work from the 17th century, from the workshop of Carlo Maratta (1625-1713) or Pietro da Pietri (1663- 1716).
