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September 30, 1949

Dear Sir:

Having communicated this late Spring with Dr. Edgar Wind at Smith College in connection with a French gouache of the 17th. century I own, he was so gracious as to suggest my writing to you for your opinion.

I hope, therefore, you will not mind the liberty I am taking thus of sending you herein a photograph of this most delightful work, which is somewhat of a riddle to me, as well as to three art historians to whom I have shown it.

Having  called it "Aurora" Dr. Edgar Wind suggested that it should most certainly be "Astrée" riding through a dark sky - the rays at the lower left corner indicating a setting sun rather than a rising sun as I thought originally.

Dr. Wind further thought that you possibly could connect it with one of the passages of Honoré D'Urfe's "Astrée".

Of the following we can be certain. Namely that it is of the 17th. century and French but the sitter and the author remain great question marks.

Having been a few weeks ago in Europe, I saw at the Musee Historiques of Versailles a small painting by Jacques STELLA, representing allegorical triumph of King Louis XIII, which is so close to my gouache that, temporarily anyway, I am attributing it to this artist.

One or two other names have been suggested, which, however, do not satisfy me.

The efforts I have made to have this small photograph enlarged have not been very successful, but I can tell you that the inscription on the scroll held by the cupid hovering above the group is offhand Italian?, as it could read as "All' Apparir Lampeggia"

t.s.v.p.