New-York tribune., 1921-04-17
Louis XIV. Room
Reproduced at
Art Museum
Gift Of ]. Pierpont Morgan
Shows i'm Detail French
Interior; Panels Taken
From a House in Paris
New American Paintings
Valuable Engraved Print by
Mantegna Among Recent
Accessions Shown To-day

A Louis XIV paneled room repro
ducing in detail French interior of
the mid-eighteenth century, is among
important new displays and recent
accessions opening to public view to-
day at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art. The Museum Bulletin for April
announces also q new, valuable en-
graved print by the early Italian
painter-engraver Mantegna; four pur-
chase paintings by modern American
artists, George Luks. John Sloan,
Everett Shinn and Walter l.. Palmer,
and treasure addition TO the armor
collection in a horse frontal, part of
Radzivil panoply.
The generosity of J. Pierpont Nor
gan made it possible for the museum to
acquire panel woodwork used in the
French Room, which was taken from
a house in Paris. said to have be-
longed to Nine. de Pompadour. 1t
is typical of the fine interior decora-
tion in homes of the upper middle
class of the period. Set up in the
Morgan wing it is fitted with objects
from the Hoentschel collection, the
whole setting being in accord with the
same artistic impulse
The panel design is attributed to
Charles Etienne Briseux and is exc
cuted in sweeping lines reaching from
fioor/t ceiling and broken at the top
and bottom by heavily carved SCROLL
work. Tall mirrors at each end Of the
room give the effect Of a spacious
vista. The pure grain of the oak pan
ali0O ia rouoo1o1 tho orinsro1 ni1t
finish having been removed.
Martegna Print Rare Work
The Mantegna print is from a cop
per plate engraving of the Risen
Christ Between ST. Andrew and st.
most beautiful and important prints
in the museum, not only possibly
unique but representing the ripest
work of its kind. 1t was for years
part Of the Paul Davidsohn collection.
Of historical Importance, in addition
to the technical and artistic value COM
bined in it, is the horse frontal or
metal head protection from the Rad
zivil armour, which has become part
of the museum. 1t is finely ornamented
and inlaid in color in the fashion Of
the early German, the work being at
tributed to Kunz Lochner, of Nurem-
burg, and the date shortly before 1866.
1t was once the property of Nicolaus
Christoff Won Radzivil, prince of the
Holy Roman Empire.
The Hearn fund purchases This year
are paintings of "The Old Duchess"
by George Luks: John Sloan's "Dust
Storm-Fifth Avenue" painted in 1906;
"London Music Hail." by Everett
Shionn, dated 1908, and Walter L. Pal
mer's "SileEt Dawn" The latter is a
snow scene. A painting by Thomas
Sully, on wood, entitled "Musidora,"
Allston Gillet. in memory Of his uncles,
Sully Gillet and Lorenzo M. Gillet.
Early Persian Pottery on View
Several new purchases on view are
Of early Persian pottery, Of special in
terest being small bowl decorated in
lustre, with an interior design Of two
hares and inscriptions, and on the ex-
terror, medallion motives. 1t is as
signed to the eighth or ninth century,
ruby lustre was exhibited at the
Munich exhibition of Mahametan art
in 1910. A Sienese statue of an
apostle, done in terra Gotta, also is
shown. 1t is attributed to Vechietta,
who worked during the fifteenth CEN
tury. Other recent accessions are five
pieces of early American furniture,
three chairs IN the Chlppendale style,
Colonial mirror and circular giran-
dole.
The annual report of the museum
trustees for the year 1920 shows that
926,908 persons visited the galleries
during that time, larger number
than for any year excepting 1909, the
year of the Hudson-Fulton celebration.
The total cost for carrying on the
museum for the same period was $747,-
646.84, against total income for ad-
ministration purposes. including the
city allowance, Of 1924, ,120.02, which
port says that the funds with which
to meet the annual expense have not
increased in proportion with the rapid
growth of the institution. A question
confronting the trustees, the report
continues, is how to deal with the
normal growth of the collections and
the ways of making them available
and useful to the public.