New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-10-25

'Yet must own should not mind
To be little richer"
Labor and wait, and you may find
Hello! an empty pitcher
The skull of Leonardo On Winch.
When Louis Philippe was king OF the
French he owned the Chateau d'Amboise.
The castle had been the favorite residence
of many OF the kings and queens of France,
notably Francis, Catharlne de Medicis.
Margaret Of Anjou and she beautiful Ga
brielle D'Estrees. AL these haunted the
grand corridors Of the famous castle. and
here the great painter, Leonardo da Vinci
ie known to have visited Francis on terms
Of friendship. and to have died in the vicin
ity. The following narration Will disclose
the place of his interment:
On the dethrOnement OF Louis Philippe
in 1siS, the chateau, by a vote of the Re-
publican Assembly. became crown prop
erty. Napoleon III. confirmed this contis-
cation, and some years afterward designated
Amboise-then in dignitied ruins-amOng
the castles to be restored. In 1868 the order
Of restoration was issued and the work was
at once commenced upon The terrace from
which once rose the chapel Of St. Flountin.
A few days q. Hk and shovel in removing
the debris, n. Hsetsaegs came upon some
and op,,a.!ths labofDAI. these cofins
could xcsns, irregular and" 10,
II the cover OF one OF yAe.s
!. tx. be traced: sta
-; -EON-D --lNCl. 20
ESTE. a
The spaces agreed with those required
form the words Leonardo da Vieini, and the
res, nrobably had been intended to record
.Ts fact ..has been buried here" AS the
,'a;nter had died at the Chateau OF Clos
fnce near bv. there could be little doubt as
-" ,hs authenticity Of the sumulus. The
! tomh was opened, and shuli ana three
| sswucs. or thigh bones, were 1ouno ashons
| other bones. Under the direction OF Arsehe
! Uon.save. tie then minister OF tine arts 5nt
,'ii va. critically examined. l: was de'
ID 10 have belonged to man pfl enll1ss;
both, ,yand it was sups..t I'M N I- s.t nave De-
ionged 70 the p:;sss sent to Par;. supper per
nh EAST OF the skyfe pronounced it the skull
afcnol0elskSician and q doctor.
y. v'ihci was an engineer, and had writ.
Ten many medical essays. Houssaye was
desired TO send the precious remains at
once to Paris, that the ANTAGONISTS might
amuse themselves by :ecOnstructin2 the
painter. When the remains reached Paris,
tho ekull was found to have belonged
to very ordinary individual, and not to be
at all like that from which the cast had
been taken. There was tsmur too many,
buc that was comparatively unimportant.
Under the circumstances, confidence in the
bones was destroyed. They were sent back
Immediately: we're thrown away into a
corner and forgotten. Houssaye was an
enthusiast. He could not understand the
conundrum Of the skull, but he organized q
subscription by which bust of the painter
was obtained. and he had the satisfaction
Of placing it on the spot where the bones
had been found.
Two years ago $4,000, 900 francs were re.
turned to the Orleans family by bill of
indemnity carried in the Assembly. In the
division the Chateau d'Amboise fell to the
share Of the Comte de Paris. lie deter
mined to restore the chateau which had not
been fully carried out under Napoleon Ill,
and in due time came to the tomb OF stones
which had created SO great a sensation in
1891. He collected the bones, deposited
them in a proper receptacle. and placed
them in the vaults Of the chapel OF St. Nu-
bert. constructed by Charles VIII, and
upon the stone covering Of tho vault he
caused the following to be inscribed:
Under this atone repose the bones found
during the researches in the ancient Chapel
Royal OF Amboise, among which. it is sup
posed are the mortal remains Of Leonard
da Tinci, born in 1852; died in 1919. 1874"
And now we come 70 the solution OF this
singular complication. A gardener was at
the bottom Of it. A drunken. eenseless,
irreverent planter of cabbages. In 1864,
this bibuious gardener aided in getting out
the bones. Around the stone coffin were
many skeletons. and nearly y hundred
skulls. The gardener, in his Off-hand man
ner, ''picked up few BONES and threw
them into the grave Of the painter. which
accounts for the fact of the three femurs.
Relating the circumstances Of the skull to
some OF his crOnies in the cabaret that
night, some OF them. just as sense less as he,
expressed wish to zee the skull about
which such fuss had been made. It was
taken TO the wine shop. passed from one TO
another. q few bottles of ru. o,UiN0iry were
perhaps opened in honor Of the skull, every
body was satisfied that il was skull, and
the keeper OF the cabaret having no further
use for it as ghostly attraction to his Gus
toners, threw it in his cellar. When the
order came from Paris to send on the re-
mains. the drunken gardener not remeiI.
beriEg or caring what he had done with the
skull from which the cast had been taken.
substituted the nearest TO his hand and it
went on with the other bones. The error,
as We have shown, was at once discovered,
and the gardener had to lie out of his scrape
by swearing that he had sent the bones just
as he had found them.
Years afterwards, when the gardener was
taking his usual glass of wine in the same
cabaret the keeper asked him 20 assist in
getting cask of wine into the cellar. He
DID so, and quite III dramatic way
stumbled over the lost skull Of Leonardo.
The gardener might have apostrophized the
skull as Hamlet did that of Yorick. bat
probably he didn't. He carried it back to
the chateau. and without saving anything,
as we may suppose. he secretly exchanged
it for the skull still lying in the box Of
bones returned from Paris. The subject
being again talked OF in the village. it was
remeln bered by some that the skull had
been left at the wine shop. The keeper told
all that he knew, and then came the
miserable drunken gardeners turn. He
confessed to the whole proceeding, the
vault was reopened, and there the skull of
Leonardo da Einci was discovered, lying
quietly with his other bones, not taking
into consideration the presence of the adj
iitional Jtemnr.
And that is the story of the finding of the
skull of Leonardo da Vinci, the great
painter Of The Last Supper" and pretty
good story. it is. whatever may be said Of
he war of falling IL