▶ Your Answer :
In
the reading passage there is ample support to the author’s point that the work,
Laocoon and His Sons, is a fake made by Michelangelo. However, the professor in
the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal to the reading passage’s claim.
First
of all, the speechmaker insists that it is not true that the forgery was done
because Michelangelo wanted to trick Sangallo. Actually, Sangallo was the close
friend of Michelangelo, not a rival of him, for example, Sangallo assisted a
large number of Michelangelo’s works. This casts doubt on the reading passage’s
suggestion that the intention of Michelangelo’s forgery was to fool Sangallo.
Second,
the speaker says that similarity between Laocoon and The Last Judgement would
not be a evidence for the forgery. The resemblance can be explained by the fact
that the painting was inspired by Laocoon. Michelangelo saw the sculpture in
his time, and be highly influenced from it. This counters the reading passage’s
argument that several same aspects between two works is the strong evidence
supporting the forgery theory.
Finally,
the lecturer contends that copying artistic works for tricking people is hard
to imagine. She admitted there were producing imitations in Michelangelo’s
time. However, everyone in the past knew what was a imitation and what was not.
Copying for deception was regarded as a scam, the imitation was confiscated and
the punishment for the trickster was severe enough to be executed. This refutes
the reading passage’s claim that forgery were commonly done and acceptable in
the Renaissance. |