Attributed to Alceo Dossena (1878-1937), after Francesco Laurana (ca 1420 / 30- ca 1502) Presumed portrait of Ippolita Maria Sforza (1445-1488), wife of King Alfonso II of Naples About 1920 White marble 44 x 42 x 15 cm Wear and small accidents (especially to the nose) Related literature: - A cura di Vittorio Sgarbi, Il Falso nell'arte. Alceo Dossena e la sculptua italiana del Rinascimento, L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2021, p. 184. Related works: - After Francesco Laurana, cast by D. Brucciani & Co (London), Bust of a woman, probably Ippolita Maria Sforza, plaster bust, 49 x 45.5 cm, London, Royal Academy of Arts, no. 03/1434 - Alceo Dossena, Buste de gente dame, marble, dim. 49 x 47 cm, Fondazione Cavallini Sgarbi./ Italian sculptor of great talent, Alceo Dossena is best known for his reinterpretations of Renaissance sculpture. Regularly reduced to the status of a forger, the artist has indeed become famous in spite of himself. Spotted by unscrupulous dealers, he produced imitations of Renaissance works to meet a strong demand from the Italian bourgeoisie, then from the international market. A large part of his works were sold without his knowledge as originals. Alerted to this deception, but too late, the artist took the dealers to court and obtained their conviction. However, the greatest international museums acquired his sculptures, whose high quality made it difficult, even for the greatest experts, to distinguish them from the originals. Recent research on the artist and his work now allows us to better know and recognize his prodigious pastiches. Here, like other Italian artists of the same period, he imitates one of the most famous female portraits of the Renaissance, the so-called Ippolita Maria Sforza, executed around 1473 by the famous sculptor Francesco Laurana. The original work is preserved in Berlin but was damaged during the Second World War.