THE SOULT SALE.
• Our Fine Arts columns have been of late so fully occupied by the Royal Academy, that we have not been able to notice the sale of Marshal Soult's pictures ; an event which attracted crowds to Paris, including many of our own countrymen. We are now reminded of it by a little passage which occurred in Parliament this week between Mr. Charteris and our iesthetic Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which the latter negatived a report that Titian's "Tribute-money," bought for the National Gallery at the Paris sale for 24001., had been offered last year for 1200!.: and Mr. Disraeli took occasion to observe at the same tame that the " Conception " itself, now sold to the French Government for about 23,4001., had been in the market here for 8000/. It would certainly be even more humiliating to our good sense than detrimental to our pockets that our official purvey- ors of art should consider the notoriety of any sale-room as the standard of value. As for the "Conception," the price is simply preposterous. Whether any painting is worth such an amount of national money, may admit of grave doubt; but it is pitiable to see it lavished on a Murillo's "Conception." The sum realized by the sale of the Soult collection was about 66,0001.
Previous page
