Mr. Gordon relates:--“M. Averani, a young French artist at Florence, had
extraordinary talent for copying miniatures, giving them all the force
of oil. I had frequently seen him at work in the gallery, and I
purchased of him a clever copy of the Fornarina of Raphael, and one of
the Venus Vestita of Titian, in the Pitti Palace, said to be the only
miniature painted by this great man. It had a good deal of the character
of Queen Mary Stuart, was painted on a gold ground, had great force, and
was highly finished. I gave the artist his price, six sequins, and
brought it to England. When I disposed of my _vertu_, in Sloane-street,
previous to my settling in Scotland, this miniature made a flaming
appearance in the catalogue. The gem was bought by a gentleman for
fifty-five guineas. I thought I had done very well by this transaction,
until I saw it advertised in the _Morning Chronicle_, stating that “an
original portrait of Mary, Queen of Scotland, the undoubted work of
Titian, value one thousand guineas, was to be seen at No. 14, Pall-mall;
price of admission, 2_s._ 6_d._” The bait took; the owner put three or
four hundred pounds into his pocket by the exhibition, and sold the
portrait for seven or eight hundred pounds. Here was I an innocent
accessory to the greatest imposition that was ever practised on the
public. As a work of art, it was worth all I got for it; and I was
offered nearly that sum by a friend who knew its whole history. I
understand that a nobleman was the purchaser of this beautiful
miniature.”