New-York tribune., 1905-08-14

Mr.. Lafan who is an expert in archaeology.
nade the following statement yesterday in re-
gard to the statue:
This remarkable example of Roman art was
brought to light through private enterprise at a
time when the science of archaeology hardly de-
served the name of q science. a circumstance
accounting sufficiently for the slight attention Ii
has hitherto received i'm proportion TO it's i'm
portanCe and extra ordinary value. I'm the early
years of the last century, when curiosity con-
Cerning tine state of ancient Rome had been
stimulated by the liberal example of Pope Plus
VII. Count Nicolas Demidov, then living in
Florence, obtained permission to undertake
series of excavations near the Church of San
Giovanni i'm Laterano. In their work the dig
gers came upon pedestal and beside IT, as II
it had fallen. the huge bronze statue of Ire
bonianus lay in several pieces. The pieces were
gathered and sent to DeudOv's palace I'm Flor
ence. where the work of reconstruction and
Identification was at once begun.
In those days icOnography was very inexact
science. despite the introduction Of more critical
methods by Winckelmann and his successors,
and the experts who first saw the great bronze
Cesar" by which name ii has since been known
TO all writers who have mentioned IT. With the
rest of Demidov's belongings, the statue passed
in 1923 into the hands Of his son Anatole. after
ward Prince Of San Donate. where II remained
till 1S4S. when it was given to Count A de
Montferrand. the distinguished architect s part
payment OF his services i'm the construction Of
the palace Of San Donate. For some years il
stood as chief ornament of his great collection
at 81. petersburg, DuJ the peTIUQcIOTN IeStOFd-
tion proved insufficient. The statue fell to
pieces. and for quarter of century after the
death of the owner in 1883 il was held In seclu-
sion by his heirs.
The statue was then bought by Rolin and
Feuardent. who caused it to be carried TO Paris
and placed in the hands Of Nj. Penelli, OF the
Louvre, for reconstruction. Penellfs expert
ment proved. unhappily. complete failure, and
so chagrined was Mr.. Feuardent al the result
that he packed it away in a shed at his private
house. Here il found two years ago That
I ha % =
but close examination showed how egreSiously
the restorer had blundeVed For, not only We're
the pieces badly Joined, but several, through a
misunderstanding. were transposed. Portions
or the leg, for instance, were found IN the back,
and portions OF the back in the abdomen, and
the whole coated with cement and paint to
conceal inexpert and defective workmanship
Deplorable as it was, however. the damage
done was neither radical nor irremeOiable- The
mounting had been accomplished with the help
OF cement, In the former instance, without
bracing rlvetting. II was question. there
fore, of simply taking il to pieces and rebuilding
IT a mors discreet and scientific plan. To
this end IL was intrusted to one OF proved
ability. NJ. Andre. who had lately won general
recognition by his remarkable restoration OF the
bronze Hermes from Antkythera- On taking it
to pieces he found that not only was 1t easy 10
undo the work of M. Penelli, but that an almost
perfect reconstruction was possible. since, eX-
cepting few square inches of the torso, no part
of the original missing. In eighteen months
he had completed his task and restored TO its
original form of the finest examples of
The rarity of these early bronzes is easily
accounted for. That an enormous number must
have been produced is certain. Pliny. speaking
Of the great number that existed in his time
says even OF private dwellings that "a man
might take them for some public place" Their
popularity began before the second century.
B. c., and continued till long after Pliny's time
Notwithstanding the destruction OF many in
later years. traveller OF the fifth century
reclSons the number OF bronze statues in Rome
at above 3,700. In the repeated raids OF the
Cloths NaOdalS a nhar do
stroyed. and, indeed. for nearly seven centuries
as Lanciani observes, works OF bronze and other
metals sought for, stolen, stripped and
melted with an almost incredible amount OF
value and facility OF transportation. IT is
therefore, not hard 10 understand why large
bronzes are SO seldom found In comparison with
marbles. which appealed chiefly TO the COM
paratively small community of lime burners
There few references to this statue OF
Trebonianus Gallus In the various works deal
ing with Roman sculpture for reasons which
must now be sufficiently manifest. The undis-
puted portraits that have come down to US are
confined TO few coins and medals. On tho
other hand. nearly all the busts and heads
labelled Trebonianus in various European coll
lecuons are under suspicion. Bernoulh accepts
none without reservation. though he Is inclined
Fiorianus OF the Jakobsen collection at Copen-
haSen. comparison between statue and
the authentic coins establishes it's identity be-
yond cavil. The substantial head the furrowed
prov, nrm nose and close cut beard correspond
In every particular
OF the subject comparatively little Is known.
Z: Vioius Trebonianus Gallus. who was possibly
or African descent. is said TO have been born on
an Island of the Syrtis Minor toward the end OF
the second century early in the third. IL Is
Known that he fought under Trajanus Decius
against tho Goths In 25l. and there is good rea-
son TO believe that that prince was betrayed by
MIN. on the death of Decius ha was immedi-
steiy proclaimed Emperor by his soldiers. and
nus nrst act was to conclude . dishonorAble
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