New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-26
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE. FRIDAY. OCTOBER 2e 1900
A B0TTICELLI MYSTERY.
PRINCE CHIGI LOSES BOTH PICTURE
AND PURCHASE MONEY. AND
MADONNA" DISAPPEARS

The conviction Of Prince Chigj on The chavez
Of unlawfuIly selling out of italy a 1s1,,ab1a
work Of art has given rise to a degree NJ r,x,s+i
hcation which would hardly have been srnnoe.d
possible IN regard to picture so famous 40
the Madonna" Of BotticeTi Ionp recl,ora
among the chief glories of the Chigi Caller >
Rome. The first Geographic announcement ~
the conviction came to this country a few dave
ago without any particulars of the Transaction
by which the distinguished culprit had incurred
the penalties Of the law. Next annearAd IN
The Philadelphia Record" brief interview,
with P. A. 3. Widener. the BotticelH amateur op
Philadelphia, in which he expressed his oninion
that the Madonna sold by Prince Cbigi in
contravention Of Italian law was not that which
he (Mr Widener) had recently purchased in
London which Includes, be it noted. a figure of
st. Joseph and which, its possessor is made to
say, is the only one in the United States"
Mr.. Widener is quoted in the same interview
to the effect that Prince Chigi's customer was
probably Agnew, the well known London dealer.
A later cable dispatch from Rome telling that
the punishment of the offending Prince had
been fixed at fine of $4,000 lire CS63,OOO) incl
dentaIly states that the Botticelu sis now in
London" while The New-York Times" of yes
terday, apparently unaware of Mr. widener.s
statement, apTends to its publication of the
same telegram corrective footnote to the effect
that the purchaser in the case was p. A. B.
widener.
These conflicting statements and conjectures
were being made and the mysterious interest of
the Chigi BotticelH was being considerably
deepened for the general public while Count
Plunkett's monograph on Sandro Rotticelli. pub
ished in London in the present year, was wait
ing, unnoticed, but ready to afford the follow
ing account of the affair:
About year ago the Botticem Madonna" in
the Chigi Gallery long celebrated and disputed
about. became the centre Of a small sensation in
the world of art. At that time Prince Chigi hav-
ing let it be known that he willing to sell the
famous Madonna which few critics had hest
tated 10 ascribe TO Sandro BotticelI, received
an offer Of S35 900 from some foreign collector
whose name has not been published. Upon this
oner others followed, somewhat after the fashion
OF an auction, only without its publicity At
last the picture was sold for S63 900 (the exact
amount Of the fine imposed two DAYS ago upon
the Prince)-to agent of the Rothschilds re-
port said at the time. In accordance with the
Italian law, the purchasers card, with decla-
ration Of purchase, was handed TO the Minister
Of Public Instruction, but while these prescrip-
tive fornalities were being observed the picture
itself disappeared. It has since reappeared in
the collection OF Mrs. j. L Gardner, or Boston.
This is. in substance, Count Plunketts story
Of the disappearance, in the light of which the
solution Of the problem of the present where
abouts Of the only BotticeIi known to have been
The picture referred to by Count Plunkett and
that owned by Mr. Widener are not the same
The former contains no gure Of ST. Joseph
The law under which Prince Chigi has been
convicted, and, jointly with his purchaser,
mulcted TO the full amount of the pur-
chase money, is that by which the sale Of
antiquities Cusing the term in a classic
sense) is regulated IN those parts of Italy which
were the Papal States prior 70 September 1870.
This law, known as the Pacca Edct after the
Cardinal who first devised It, is relic of Papal
rule, which the Italian Government has been in
no hurry to abolish. It provides for the granting
Of permits to sell outside Of the Papal States
antiquities falling under the description of
precious" which description has been defined
by the Roman Court of Appeals as meaning 'of
exceptional value" the export duty exacted as
a condition antecedent 10 the granting of the
permit being 20 per cent. The Chigi sale was
by all accounts, completed and the picture sent
abroad without any such permit and in this
probably lies the gravamen Of the offence for
which Prince Chigi has TO suffer. The
Pacca Edict was, in substance, embodied In an
act passed by the italian Parliament in 1871.