Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-06-19


shot on the spot unless they gave Tive can
not go into any detail of the multtudinous mi
nor successful operations of His Grace Of Dalma-
tia in his artiStical campaigns. Suffice it to saw
that his many Zurbarans were removed" in dou-
bic quick march from the Msrcendrios descai=os
to headquarters. One lot alone of them-No.
22-fetched at the sale 10000 francs.
Many years ago, when the remembrance of
these doings was fresh in Seville and while those
were alive who saw them done-and ere the
blanks of the snisSing' on the walls were filed
up,-we ourselves noted down few 'facts"
which at the proper time may be respectfully Of
fered to NM. Theirs and Co. when the veritable
history of 1.-THE Duke and of the tricolor is to be
indited His s'Grace" himself felt no compunc-
ton in exhibiting his collection seldom in
deed whispering whence ''he rif1ed the sweets"
Nay, the late Lord Essex-who was great wag
in his way-when shown this gallery, observed
gravely,-"M lie Marechal, these masterpieces
must have cost your Excellency great deal ?"-
''Ah, oui, Mi Lord, replied the Marshal, s'beau-
coup, beaucoup. Lord Essex, however, was
shown none of the feceipts-nor are any of these
documents cited by either Mr.. Ford or Mr..
Stirling, who otherwise do ample justice to the
love for 'the things of Spain" and for the eighth
commandment of this Verres of the nineteenth
century.
The newspapers will have informed our readers
of the European excitement caused by the bring
ing to the hammer of these acquisitions of the
persuasive bayonet. The whole scene was very
French-from the opening crowds, queues and Gu
1iosity-the armed police which protected the
separation by sale better than was done at Seville
at the acquisition-down to the grimaces and
embraces which were enacted when NJ Nieuwer-
kerke was declared the purchaser of the prime
lot for the French national collection. The ma
jority of the pictures, which were sold for indif
ferent prices, were chiefly those which the Mar
shall obtained on his own judgment, and not that
of Cean Bermudez, the excellent cata1oguer Of
Spanish art. His ..Graces'' education in early
life had been somewhat neglected; even to the
last he was only partially acquainted with the
sciences of grammar and penmanship. The
athetical and abstract tendencies generally are
less likely to be prominently developed than the
knowledge of '.what a thing will fetch"-or mar
ketable considerations.
The grand prize of the sale was. lot 81, The
Conception of the Virgin This, the favorite
mystery of the Palladium of Seville, was knock
ed down, as we have already informed our read
ers for the Louvre, for $4,000 francs, or about
f23, 400 This is sum unparalleled in the an
nails of picture sales,-but which must not be
taken either as criterion of price or a fixed
point for future valuation. The excessive and
extravagant amount was altogether accidental
and arose simply from the usual character of the
competitors President who has but to decree
to empty the national exchequer,-an Emperor
with the Ural good mines for his pocket-money,
"a Queen whose patrimony is the Spains,-and
an English Marquis with perhaps quite as much
ready money as any of them. Why the Queen
Of the SPANS should have bid so eagerly, passes
our understanding She already possesses, at
Madrid, two paintings by the same master and of
the same subject, of equal merit:-and, beauti-
full as this subject is, it is of the most
mon, since it represented the mystical event
which long occupied the minds and hearts of
Spaniards, and which Murilo so frequently
treated as to be known Familiarity by the name
of the Painter of Conceptions. Lot l28, the
Christ bearing the Cross by Sebastian del Pr
ombo, was purchased by the Emperor of Rus
STA for 1000 francs,-a price considerably
under its real value. Lot 1872. The Tribute
Money, by Titan, was sold for $4,000 francs,-
and has, we believe been secured-better late
than never-for our National Gallery. Lot SO,
The Glorifcadon of the Virgin was bought in
at 5000 francs. When this picture was in Spain,
certain robbers-"voleurs" says the catalogue,
without, in opinion, sufficiently considering
the respect due to the Marshal's memory,-cut
out the bust of the Virgin and Child. The
fragment, somehowsor other was sold in Eng
land, and now belongs to quintupe millionaire
recently raised to the peerage. This nobleman-
great collector-decned, however, when urged
and re-urged, to purchase the original portion,
and thus missed the opportunity ofre-uniting the
fragments.
The total proceeds of the three days. sale has
amounted to 1,468709 francs, or about &C, OOW
Verify, the French soldiers were not very wide of
the mark when they said, according to M.
Rocca, that the war of the invasion was
death to them, but made the fortunes of the gen.
erals.