THE MARCELLO VALSUANI MYTH DEBUNKED

How the Error Spreads: the Lebon Reference and the Musee d’Orsay Catalog

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The “Marcello” error is not an abstract problem — it sits in print, in the reference works professionals actually use. The two documents below show the misattribution in circulation: an entry in Elisabeth Lebon’s standard foundry reference with an incorrect source citation for the Valsuani founding, and a Musée d’Orsay catalog reference repeating the erroneous attribution. Each is exactly the kind of authoritative-looking secondary source through which an unverified claim crystallizes into accepted “fact”.

Incorrect Valsuani source reference in the Lebon foundry dictionary
Foundry reference work (Lebon): the Valsuani entry’s source citation does not support the founding claim it is attached to.
Incorrect Valsuani reference in the Musee d'Orsay catalog
Musée d’Orsay artist catalog: the founder attribution repeats the secondary literature rather than the civil record.

Neither institution originated the error; both inherited it. That is precisely the mechanism this research documents: citation without verification, repeated until the record hardens.

Last updated: 7 September 2026.