Viewing page 92 of 105

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

October 20, 1954

Dear Mr. Sciolette:

Comment on écrit l'histoire....and do have my very best thanks for your kind letter of October 18th and the proof you give me thus that you thought of me. In fact, I was about to write to you, not having forgotten my promise of sending you a photograph of the painting I own of the Ecole de Fontainebleau and which I spontaneously told you the one you recently acquired resembles in some of the details, particularly if I recall well in the facial characteristics of the men and especially I should say one characteristic, which, unfortunately, you cannot judge by the photograph, is the flesh tints, which are quite reddish for the men, whereas the female representations are all milky white.

As I think I also pointed out to you, Mr. Lossky, the director of the Tours museum, who has a rather similar representation of this Feast of the Gods and who was thus interested in my painting, published an article "Penitures inspirées par l'estampe au Musée de Tours" in La Revue des Arts of September, 1953. Included in it is an etching, of which I am sending you a photostat. I know how all these questions interest you; hence my sending you this documentation.

I am sorry, indeed, to have seen so little of you during this last stay in Europe and do hope that next time I shall be more fortunate. In the course of our conversation you started telling me of another Louis XIV statue very close, though different in some of the details, to the one I acquired from you, but we were interrupted, and you went no further on this topic. It would interest me to hear some more about it when you are at leisure, and I am wondering whether you could obtain a few photographs.

In connection with this matter, I recently heard from Miss Martine Weber, who is doing some research work for me along entirely different lines (she has now become officially appointed at the Chateau de Versailles and is thus working with Melle. Jallut). She wrote that, having taken up the matter anew with Miss Jallut, they had both come to the conclusion that the little information they had been able to gather was not conducive to writing an article. I answered Miss Weber that I did not agree with her, and for it seems to me that the link with the Boulle pieces of furniture of the Louvre not mentioned by Professor Reau and the relationship between the two families of the

t.s.v.p.