Yes, It’s Beautiful, the Italians All Say, but Is It a Michelangelo?

ROME Is it or isn’t it a Michelangelo? That is the question being pondered by art experts after the Italian state spent 3.3 million euros, or $4.2 million, last year to buy a small wooden crucifix attributed to that Renaissance genius.

Unfortunately, my colleagues have forgotten that, and every time something beautiful emerges, they attribute it to a famous name, Mr. Caglioti said. It would seem like everything done in Renaissance Florence can be attributed to 10 people with a thousand hands.

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The opposite is true, Mr. Montanari said. The government would better serve future generations by preserving Italy’s vast patrimony rather than investing in isolated works of art. The crucifix and the way it has been displayed, he said, were a deliberate attempt by the Italian government to associate itself with an important religious symbol. Had the work been of a different subject, say, a satyr, with an equally tenuous attribution, I doubt that the state would have invested the money he said.