File:Spanish-Forger Bibliotheca Fictiva nr. 8108100.jpg

English: The Spanish Forger is the name given to an unidentified individual who, in the late 19th to early 20th century, created a large number of forgeries of medieval miniatures. While the large majority of the Spanish Forger’s surviving works are single-sheet miniatures, he also applied himself to paintings on wooden (often oak) boards. The Bibliotheca Fictiva includes this one example of the latter: a medieval knight receiving his spurs before the prospect of a castle in the background. The marked androgyny of the armored knight has inspired some speculation as to whether the central figure might be Joan of Arc—another favorite subject of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century forged illuminations, fueled in part by the absence of any contemporary images of her from her own lifetime. Regardless, further attributes of the Spanish Forger’s style are found here: namely, slightly elongated figures in courtly secular dress, theatrical hand gestures, saccharine faces, pointed footwear, and lollipop trees in the background alongside other almost tapestry-like foliage. Another version of this painting, also on wooden boards, was recently subjected to X-radiographic and ultraviolet imaging, revealing particular characteristics of the forger’s methods in that medium as well. Credit: Bibliotheca Fictiva Collection, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University. Work held at the John Work Garrett Library, Johns Hopkins University.