El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-26

Bust to American Million
aire to be Unveiled With
Ceremony at Ascot.
rs GRATEFUL FOR
RETURN OF COPE
(By Clement ]. Barrett.)

! - ONE, Italy, Oct. 25.-AscOH is
| making great preparations for the
! ~ unwilling of the bust of ]. Pier
| pOnt Morgan, the famous American
! financier, who earned the undying
gratitude of the. community by his gem
erous return OF the celebrated cape
stolen from the cathedral here. 1t is
DC present, and king Victor Emmanuel
| has promised to visit Ascot at the
| time, while the church will be repre-
! scented by several high prelates.
Government Is Puzzled.
The unwilling will be the occasion of
a great celebration. 1t is interesting
thaU while ASCOT IS preparing to COM
n1emorate the return of her relic, the
Italian government is puzzled as to
! how best to defend the art treasures
of Italy from the onslaught of foreign,
particularly American capital.
1t is not only that these are so scat
tered-for there is hardly one little
toWnY however remote and poor, that
( does not possess some good picture or
| other work of art, but also that the
pursuit by INSCRIPTIONS art dealers has
become more wide reaching than ever
The best protection, as a rule lies in
the pride which italian custodians take
IN the objects of their care. But the
purses OF buyers are long, the tempta-
ton put in the way of very Door men is
great. There is, of course, the indefati-
gable vigilance of the director general
however great his devotion to the task
ne can hardly be surprised If circum-
stances should sometimes arise which
set all his care and Watchfulness at
nought- In the case of one of two pic
lures now figuring in the Italian law
courts, 1t was very largely due to the
1orethought of signor Carrado Rici
that they were ever recovered at all;
put the fact remains that both pictures
disappeared from almost under the nose
OF authority in Florence and in Rome o.
And If these things are possible in the
two capitals of art, what may not be
done in distant unfrequented places
where official supervision is presum-
ably more laX2
Is SOrdid Tale.
The theft of the more important of
these two pictures, that of Fra Angeli-
cos Madonna della Stella from the con
vent of San Marco, makes rather a
Sordld tale It was plated by its IN
faithful guardians, who are now in
prison engaged in throwing blame on
each other.
The story of the other picture is
more out of the ordinary way. This
representing a seated Madonna and |
child, seems to have attracted the at
tentlon of Signor Corrado Ricci when
one day in 1907 he visited Santa Maria
IN Trastevere. He recognized it as at
least a good example of the school of 4
venice, If not by GieTanni Bellini him J
SELF S1gnor Ricci at that time took a
care1ul note of the picture, and had it |
photographed, recording both the pho
tograph and his notes in the bulletin of
his ministry. A few years later he
learned from the newspapers that a
fire had taken place in the sacristy of |
santa Maria in TraStevere and that the |
picture was burned Hurrying to Rome,
he visited the church, and was shown /
IN the midst of the charred walls of /
the only room which the fire had !
touched a fragment of frame and the |
iron hook from which the picture had /
hung. A few months ago his sus- |
p1c1Ons became certainties when he re- 1
ceived news from one of his inspectors !
that picture, closely resembling the !
of 1907, was being offered |
for sale. The vigilance of the expert in |
spectors were redoubled, and the pic |
ture was finally seized and identified |
at Florence.
WOuId-Be Seller Arrested.
This would-be seller was arrested
and proved to be priest who for some !
time during 1911 had found employ
ment in the chapter of Santa Maria in
There comes news, also, Of |
= theft OF valuable objects from the
church of the Dueme of Catelfrance
eneto, and the objects stolen comprise
levels, vestments, lace and other ar
icles, supposed value of about $4,000. |
Public opinion naturally finds fault
With the government officials, but it /
hard to suggest what further precau- |
lions can be taken.