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Fakebuster! (Puzzle II)
Distinguishing authentic artifacts from forged or misattributed ones is an essential challenge for archaeologists and art historians. Scientific tests, though, often prove incomplete or inconclusive (or simply misleading). In such cases, the best line of defense against forged artifacts is an expert with a finely honed intuitive sense for authenticity—sometimes called a fakebuster. (In Tetraktys, Dr. Jerusalem is a consummate fakebuster.)
Can you use your fakebusting skills to figure out which image is real and which is fake?
Attic vase depicting Athena and Herakles, circa 520 B.C., Andokides painter
Click here for the answer!
There is one original image and a doctored one. The only difference between them is the handles on the vase. Looking at the images my guess is that the original image is the one with the handles, which were cloned out to make the second image. (It would have been harder to add the handles to a photograph.) Looking closely at the images’ background confirm they are the same.