Once upon a time, there was a Renaissance fireplace that had been dormant for more than twenty years, in the premises of a sculpture restorer … This is how this edifying story could begin, of which we can hardly understand how it could last. as long as. It was not until two years ago that things started to move, thanks to the insistence of an American conservative and a French senator, indignant at this situation.
- 1. France, 16th century
Chimney of the Château du Bosquet
Donated to France by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1997
Old photograph -
See the image in his page
In 1995, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, finding that a sculpted Renaissance fireplace (ill. 1) from a French chateau and transported in several pieces (ill. 2 and 3), which had been offered to him in 1930 by its president Eli Kirk Price, had never been reassembled in the rooms of the museum, decides to part with it. The American museum then plans to sell it and contacts Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The first auction house estimates the work between 30,000 and 50,000 dollars, while the second values it between 60,000 and 80,000 dollars.
After reflection, and at the initiative of Kathryn Hiesinger, the curator in charge of the work, the museum then generously decides to offer the work to France, a donation accepted in 1997, the only condition imposed was that it or reassembled in a monument in France, and that this monument be open to the public.
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- 2. France, 16th century
Piece of the fireplace at the Castle of the Grove in the holdings of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Photo : Philadelphia Museum of Art -
See the image in his page
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- 3. France, 16th century
Piece of the fireplace at the Castle of the Grove in the holdings of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Photo : Philadelphia Museum of Art -
See the image in his page
The provenance of this fireplace is unclear. An article published by “The Pennsylvania…
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