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Meloni, then director of artistic research at the Cultural Ministry, to ask permission to copy works in the Pitti Palace. I chose Andrea del Sarto's 1527 Assumption of the Virgin, displayed in the Palatina galleries near the royal Medici apartments. In the painting, del Sarto included a Medici Pope, Clement VII, as a bystander in the heavenly event. Before starting to work, I was asked to sign the registry. The security staff members were all aflutter. "We forgot the formal procedure, because it's been such a long time," I was told. A tapestry-bound volume was brought in and ceremoniously placed on an ornate table. They opened the gold clasp binding parchment pages that revealed signatures of leading 18th and 19th century portrait and landscape painters. Had their teachers told them: You can't go wrong imitating the best? Days later my goose bumps disappeared. Where did my copies go? Some ended up in an art collector's hands, in lieu of rent. He owned a home on 18 wooded acres, which I minded until it was sold. Happily for me, he accepted these faux canvases, even though they were mere copies. Intent to deceive? Or, in common with some of the artists in the Ringling Museum exhibit, a necessary financial reprieve? Intent to Deceive: Fakes and Forgeries in the Art World continues at the Ringling Museum until Aug. 2. For more information, visit ringling.org or call 359-5700. % Enter To Win A New iPad e contest concludes when e Sarasota News Leader achieves 1,000 "Likes" on Facebook, One winner will be selected at random from among subscribers. Only subscribers are eligible to win the iPad, regardless of having "Liked" our page on Facebook. Contest is open only to residents of Sarasota County. Selected winners must provide a valid Sarasota County street address to receive the iPad. Contest is void where prohibited by law. 2 Then Like Us On Facebook When our "Likes" on Facebook reach 1,000, we will randomly select one of our subscribers to receive a new iPad. 1 Click here to Subscribe Sarasota News Leader July 18, 2014 Page 95