The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1873-10-02
ANINTRREsTING DISCOVERY.


The Gazette DIES Bedar 44Tts for August contains
a very interesting letter from NJ Paliar, in which
he gives an account of his discovery of the long
lost tapestry, woven from RaphaePs cartoon of
the Coronation of the Virgin. 1t was used for
the decoration of the high altar of the Sstine
Chapel while the other ten tapestries were sus-
pended along the lower part of its side wallis
After Raphael had finished his immortal cartoons
l5l5-l6) they were sent to Flanders. The tapes
tries woven from them arrived in Rome in 1919,
two years before his death. Nine years later when
l529) Rome was sacked by the furious soldiers
of Constable de Bourbon, they were stolen and
carried to France, where, after being offered for
sale at Lyons in 1880, they were purchased by the
Constable Anne de MOntmorency, who in 1852
generously restored them to Pope Julius iii.
They remained at Rome until 17S9 when they
were again abstracted from papal keeping, and
sold to certain Jews, who, surprising that the
gold thread which entered into their composition
was of considerable value, destroyed the rep
resenting Christ's descent to Limbo. Finding
that the amount of the precious metal which they
obtained from il of but little value, they
sold the other tapestries to some Genevese mer-
chants, who in their turn disposed of them to
Pope Plus VII, by who's they were once more
restored to the Vatican in the year 1S0S. Since
that time nine have hung in the gallery of Plus
", but no knew what had become of the
tenth. Passavant, in his life of Raphael (vOl. H.
2l1) had suggested that it would perhaps be
found rolled up and forgotten in me corner of
the papal palace, an idea which has happily been
verified by NJ. Paliard After searching without
success in the workshop in the Vatican where
the tapestries used in the Sistine Chapel are kept
and repaired, and fruitlessly visiting the pOntif
cial factory at S. Michele, where many old tapes
tries preserved, this gentleman was about to
give up in despair, when "a fortunate converse
tiOn with one of the smarter wOrkmen reanimat-
ed his hopes At this mans suggestion he return
ed to the Vatican, and there, in room the
second story, belonging to the private apartments
of the Pope, called ..sIanza della predica Del
famiglari," discovered the lost treasure hanging
the wall, together with seven other tapestries,
one of which, as representing Leonardo de Vinci's
Last Supper, is of peculiar interest
As NJ. Paliard made his discovery the 9th
of February, 1869, at loss to know why
lie has kept the secret for four years. The CorO-
nation of the Virgin, which exactly corresponds
to the description taken by Passavant for the
papal catalogue, is Unframed in border of flow
ers, fruits Birds sirens, and geni of small dimen
sions. The subject is divided into three super
posed rows of figures, God the Father, with the
cherubim at the top, Christ, the Holy Spirit, in
the form of a dove and the Madonna attended by
angels, in the middle, and Saints John the Bap-
fist and Jerome, with two angels, at the bottom.
These two saints were here introduced in honor
of Leo X; ST. John, because his real name was
Giovanni de Medic, and ST. Jerome, with his faith
full lion, because he took the name of Leo X. on
his election. NJ. Paliard mentions drawing of
this composition at the Ambrosiau library, and
another at Oxford, both by Raphael. In the
latter 80 refer anu Edul OcCupN pHceS
afterward given to SIS. John and Jerome. One
popularity of the newly fonud tapestry is, that
unlike the other tapestries, in which the draw
ings are reversed this is woven in the same sense
as the cartoon. The is clear, for otherwise
God, the Father, would have been represented as
giving the benediclon with his left hand, and
holding the globe of the world in his right; the
Virgin would have been seated to the left of our
Lord, who would have crowned her with his left
hand, and st. John, besides giving mp the place
of honor to st. Jerome, would have pointed to
the Divine Lamb with his left hand.
Now that the tapestry has been found, one
not help hoping that the far more valuable dis
covery of the cartoon from which il was woven
will some day be made. Of this, however, there
is but little hope, not only on account of its COM
parative frugality, but also because in this case
il will have escaped greater perils than those
which only seven ont of the eleven have surviv-
ed. "Their survival under the barbarous treat
ment they have received is" says the academy
"as remarkable as that of some of the weak, de-
fenseless species of animals i'm the Darwiniau ac-
count of the struggle for existence" Cut into
strips and pricked with pin holes for the use of
the workmeu, they remained rolled up at the
French factory until 1929, when Reubens, then
ambassador from the Archduchess Isabella of
Spain to the English court, spoke of them TO
Charles l., and at his request obtained them for
Whitehall. After the revolution, thanks to
Cromwell. they were purchased by the govern
ment for E3oo, and placed at Hampton Court,
whence, on account of the danger from fire to
which they exposed, they have been lately
removed to South KensingtOn 1drertiser.