In “The Recognitions,” the famously undercelebrated doorstop by William Gaddis, the virtuosity of a painter who makes counterfeit “undiscovered” paintings by Flemish masters is the vehicle through which Gaddis questions the genuineness of other forms of art, life and religion.

MASSINISSA: Wilt thou be slaved? SOPHONISBA: No, free

Thou art only misplanted in a base degenerate soil.

For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, is Head of the Church; and can the Body doe any thing well, if the Head direct it not?