The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-20

a number Of priceless marbles. angels,
wreaths and Corinthian capitals were
filched from the basement of the Lu-
cera cathedral.
1t was later disclosed hat the mar
bles were removed from the cathedral
during a stormy night and shipped to
Naples, where all trace of them have
have been recovered by lucky acct
dent. A case to the point is that of
a tryptych. by Matteo da Gualdo,
which. several years after its disap-
pearance from an Assist church, was
found by F. NJ. Uerkins, a student Of
umbrian art. in the gallery of an
American collector. 1t is to the lat
ter's credit that although the picture
had cost him $4,000 francs. he will
ingly returned it to its place Of asy-
lum.
Three months ago a Dell Robbia
terra cotta-"Virgin and Child"-stol-
en- from st. Jacobs church at Castro.
near Florence. was recovered in the
shops of Castiglione, an antiquarian.
who declared he had given 10000
francs for it. as agent for a prospec-
tive American buyer. Two statues
belonging to the church of Caravonica.
near Parma, had been sold. and were
being shipped to a Paris dealer when
az liz toillle liz pOlICt CoIlllSCdItu
the statues II sen them back.
Two thefts We're prevented by the
police within a short time recently.
! The works in question were a Virgin,
by Agostina Duccio G418-14SD from
the Pontrenioli cathedral, and a Vir-
gin from the tomb of Canon Bussi, in
the church Of st. Giovanni, in Persice-
to. near Bologna.
Perhaps the greatest sensation in
Italian art circles was created by the
report that four episodes Of "Tasso's
Jerusalem Reconquered." by the great
Tiepolo, formerly the property of the
shop of Ledelmeyer. the Paris dealer.
for sale. The report, which was
doubted. owing to the great wealth at
tributed to the Cartier family. proved
but too true. And as is but natural.
it is considered a far greater calam-
ity than the loss Of the famous Van
Dycks, now in America. The Car
tiers. fearing the result of the disclos-
ure of their action. have left Italy
and settled in Switzerland. They are
nevertheless being prosecuted. The
Cartier palace has already been at
tackled, and if the Carriers are found
guilty a fine equal to double of the
government experts appraisal Of the
works will be imposed Upon them.
But the wholesale depredations do
not by any means stop there. An en-
tire ceiling. decorated by Pinturicchio,
has disappeared from the Magnifco
palace in Vienna. Already, bit by bit.
the greatest frescoes from this palace
have found their way to foreign
shores.
And now the Crespi gallery, one of
the richest private collections in Italy,
is to be sold at auction. In order to
facilitate the acquisition of permits to
sell to foreigners the family has pre-
scented Carpaccio's Nativity" to the
Brera museum. The government VAL
ued this work at $4,000. Sully, the
English dealer, as has already been
cabled, offered $4,000 for it. The
Martelli family is negotiating with the
government to gain permission to sell
their Donatello's statues to j. P. Nor
gan. Experts say that this unusual
art permit is the direct result of a
sudden desire for Italian primitives in
America. where collectors having
practically exhausted the field of
Flemish and early English artists, are
now turning their eyes to their great
Italians.