Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-03

PARIS. Aug 10.
MYTH NJ Pierre de Nolhac. the con-
w servator and restorer OF Versaiies,
stood today In the great Galerie oes
Glsces, the most perfect existing exampio
of composite art as produced In the time
of Louis XIV, its vast length OF seventy
three meters lighted by seventeen great
windows rejecting the February sun upon
its 306 Venetian mirrors and It's ceiling
veritable gallery Of painted masterpieces
by lie Brtin. Directly In the center OF Ns
length, under the words painted by lie Brun
upon the ancient plaster. lie roi gouverne
par lui meme," the present empire OF Ger.
many was created January Il, 1871, az
which time the princes and generals OF
Prussia stole ZEN souvenir" the crystal
bobeches, or grease cups, from the wall
candelabra.
1 had frequently visited this gallery be-
fore, but never had any man under the
circumstances of today, when M. de Noihac
did me the unprecedented honor OF open
ing the chateau and museum. closed as are
all museums in and about Paris since Au-
gust. 1914. for my especial benefit. Ana
said aloud:
Here, then. IL God Is good and justice
thing to apportion equally with honor. Is
the spot where the grandson of William 1,
William III OF Germany, guilty of so vast
an infamy, should be publicly shorn OF
his high estate as leader of nation prac-
tlcng barbarc and militant Prussiansm'
And M. de Nolhac a modest man, whom
With difficulty I could induce to talk OF
himself smiled the grave. beautiful smile
so prevalent I'm France today and an
swered, Celia sera trop beau"
Versailles fills so large place In the
traditions of France and the history OF her
artistic and political pre-eminence during
a glorious period Of her old regime that
its fame long since spread about the world.
But that this glory. given the white light
OF its deserving in a reverend intelligent
sequential presentation, Is entirely due to
the conservator. Pierre de Nolhac, author.
historian and the most eminent living au-
thor!ty upon the art of the eighteenth GEN.
tury, IL not so we'll known as IL deserves.
Judged from the titles of his books, M.
de Nolhac might be classified as an essay
ist and poet who had concentrated his at
tention haphazard upon widely diverse CEN
turtles. To name few of his works, he
has written upon Francesca Petrarch and
Humantarianism, Erasmus "who laid the
egg Luther hatched" Aldus Manutius and his
correspondents, the library of Fulvio Orslni.
whose family line included two Popes and
who was executed for conspiracy against
Napoleon III; the Letters Of the French
poet, Joachim de Belay; Natter. court
painter. whom he truly redscovered;
Louis XIV and his wife Marie Leczinska,
Louis XIV and Madame de Pompadour.
Marie Antoinette, Versailles from many
perspectives, the Creation. the Gardens, the
Trianon. the Chateau under Louis XIV.
and sequentia history or the art of the
eighteenth century that is a world author
ity.
But significant among his writings Is a
volume of poems. Poems of France and
Italy" Indicating how NJ. de Nohacs
orderly artistic mind sought and found Sc
quence from the Renaissance of Italy to the
Renaissance of France and the eighteenth
century, a course he has intellectually
traced in his books with perfect rhythm
and harmony. His art Is built upon the
love of the classic, the love of beauty
among the Latins and the love of Ver-
salles.
l did not interview NJ. de Nolhac spent
the afternoon with him, knew Versailles
OF old, but never before had its glory of the
past and its mission of the future been
made so clear to me as / sat or walked and
listened.
AS all men of worth, so only now and
then would NJ. de Nolhac let fall word
about himself. But of his work he spoke to
me. Out OF my previous knowledge of 1t
and personal contact with the man, who
despite recently broken right arm refused
to defer his appointment with me, l COM
pile this article.
NJ. de Nolhac is a native of Auvergne
After a profound study of Vergil, he went
to Italy, where he studied again this time