Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-06-07
MI. Thiors, eeLirIe Bronzes. ,,

According to a writer in the Steele, NJ Theirs
art collection was only known to the public by
repute. 1t was contained in his private apart
ments and his capaci0us cabinet de trduda, and
had more the appearance of objects collected for
the purpose of study than a display of rare and
precious chefS-d' 9uUTe brought together with a
view of gratifying the eye. The collection was
always closed to visitors not known to the
owner; polite letter of excuse, signed by the
secretary, was the invariable reply TO any re-
quest to be permitted to inspect it, M. Theirs
had somewhat absolute ideas on the enjoyment
of private possessions, and would never lend
any of his rare specimens for the purpose of pub
lie exhibition. Moreover, he feared the risks of
| packing and transport and the safe return of
| these fragile treasures, and no doubt shuddered
when he read in the account of the sitting of
| the commune on May - these irreverental
words of Citizen Protot: GAS to the little bronzes,
think they will arrive in safety"
The citizen Courbet, being an artist, was in
clined largely to overestimate the value of NJ
THEIRS "little bronzes" in setting them down as
worth n million and a half of francs. One.
tenth of this amount would be nearer the mark.
The majority of them are of unquestonable
rarity and interest, for they belong to the period
of the Italian Renaissance, which is almost en-
tirely unrepresented in the museum of the
Louvre. The Marine Venus" a Florentine
bronze of the sixteenth century, in the form of a
bas-relief, and marvellous specimen of casting,
represents the goddesS-of delicate and Slen-
der rather than voluptuous type-reposing on
the back of goat-headed monster, whose rough
beard she smilingly caresses, while couple of
attendant winged loves brandish torch and
adjust an arrow in bent bow. One of the
celebrated pieces of the collection is a bronze
model of virgin and child, the marble
of which Michael Angelo left uncom-
pleted, representing the virgin holding
on her knees the infant Jesus, who
is naked and turning round to seek his mothers
breast. An almost equally valuable specimen
is horseman on a galloping steed attributed
to Leonardo da Vinci, who was, according to
contemporary admirers of his vast genius, as
great a sculptor as painter, as clever an archi-
tect as an able engineer. M. Theirs antique
Jester, dancing with his arms in his mantle and
with the heavy step of a country clown, is a
statuette OF remarkable expression; while
scarcely less interesting are the two mules
heads, singularly energetic in character, which,
| found several years ago in vineyard in Dau-
| phine, evidently formed the ends of an arm
| chair belonging to some wealthy Roman eStab-
lished in France. NJ. Theirs collection OF
| bronzes comprises reduced copies-executed by
| his orders, and of which only the one example
| exsts-of some of the more celebrated statues
of the period of the Renaissance-among Others,
the rough Venetian captain, the Colleone by An
| drea Verroccho.
The walls of NJ Theirs study were decorated
with copies in water colors of those grand fres-
Goes and paintings of the great masters which
/ art tle SiOl9 VI llC LuuoGuluS anu puUuC Gul-
| fees of Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice. One
of the peculiarties, it is certainly one of the
treasures, of the Theirs collection is the assem-
blage of rare Persian, Japanese and Chi
nese objects which it comprises. Hisac cabi-
nets-especially the one from the Mentebello
sale, which, scarcely larger than ones fist cost,
nevertheless, several thousand francs-are only
riyalled by those in the Apollo gallery of the
Louvre presented to Marie Antoinette by the Je-
suit missionaries; and no more perfect specimen
of Chinese art is in existence than the long roll
in the Theirs collection, which depicts the life,
campaigns and relaxation of a celebrated en-
peror of the Celestials. The Japanese albums
are very fine, so are the Chinese and japanese
bronzes and vases, the latter most exquisitey
and tremendously painted. The same may be
said of the ivory sculptures, the engraved rock
crystals, and the jades, so hard as to blunt the
sharpest European instruments, but which, new
ertheless, do not tire the patience of oriental
artists.-PdU Mall Budget.