News - Off Beat Stories
Rare manuscript turns out to be worthless fake
Posted: Dec 17, 2009 8:30 AM by Lauren Jiggetts
A rare and prized possession is uncovered as a fraud of biblical proportions.
The "Gospel of St. Mark" is housed at the University of Chicago.
Once thought to be a rare manuscript from the 1300's and worth millions, it was highly-protected in a climate controlled case.
But it's a fake.
Researchers discovered that the blue pigment used in the work was not available until the early 1700's.
The university bought the fake in 1937 from a Greek family.
The manuscript will remain in the university's collection but will be labeled as a forgery.
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