Power and beauty: fakes and forgeries
This diploma of Doctor of Medicine, for John Wallace, Padua University, 1628 looks authentic. The leather binding, parchment pages, seals, decorations, illustrations and standard diploma text are all from the early 1600s.
But this diploma is a fake. The original owner was called Johannes (John). But someone, we do not know who, erased the surname and replaced it with Wallaceus (Wallace). If you look closely at the signature you can also see that the surname Wallaceus (Wallace) is written in different ink.
Forged name of John Wallace from the diploma of Doctor of Medicine, Padua University, 1628
We also know that the date is faked. The last page of the diploma is signed by Fabrici d’Acquapendente, Adrian van de Spiegel and Santorio. However, by 1628 both d’Acquapendente and van de Spiegel were dead (in 1619 and 1625 respectively). Furthermore, by 1628, Santorio was no longer the chair of the Collegio Veneto – the post indicated on the diploma – nor was he teaching at the university. Based on these authentic signatures on the last page of the diploma, the true date was probably 1618.
Forged date from the diploma of Doctor of Medicine for John Wallace, Padua University, 1628
Part of the date (probably an X, Roman numeral 10) has been rubbed out and XX (20) has been added outside the margins. You can still see the original Roman numerals of M (1000), D (500), C (100) and VIII (8) for the rest of the date.
The fake was clearly accepted as genuine for centuries and was catalogued in the RCP archives as genuine. The forgery was discovered by Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Dr Fabrizio Bigotti, while doing research on Santorio. However, this fake diploma didn’t necessarily help John Wallace further his career. He is not listed in any of the surviving sources as being a practising doctor in England in the early 17th century.
This is just one of the items which was on display in our 2015 exhibition celebrating 800 years of royal authority, power and symbolism using charters, seals and deeds from the Royal College of Physicians collections.
Pamela Forde, Archives manager
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The exhibition, Power and beauty: seals, charters and the story of identity, was on display in 2015