The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
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The Interesting Rockefeller
Venus Pronounced by Some
Experts to Be the Work of
Praxiteles and by Others to Be
a Well-Meant Effort to Copy
the "Venus de Medici."
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Wor
hipped In
Ancient
Athena.
Curled
In
Ancient
Roman
tTlmet
to
Save
It from
' the
, Goths.
Extraordinary
Adventures
of a Famous Marble
Lady Carved by
the Great Praxiteles Who
Has Been Worshipped,
Stolen, Burned, Boiled and
Stained and at Last Finds
Temporary Peace as the Guest
of America's Greatest
Multi-Millionaire
XXT7 IIEN ,onn Dl Roclcefoner errtered
X tbe ranks of the art collectors,
be naturally wanted something
fit to be owned by tbe richest man la tbe
world, and to be purchased a little statue
that purports to be carved by Praxiteles,
who was, of course, the most dis
tinguished sculptor that ever lived.
After nearly 2.600 years of the most ex
citing and romantic adventures ever ex
perienced by a statue the alleged Venus
of Praxiteles now stands In the Temple,
of Love In the Midst of the sunken gar
den of the Rockefeller bouse at Po
canto Hills, N. Y.
Mr. Rockefeller is understood to have
paid $60,000 for his statue, since that Is
the price mentioned in the invoice
furnished the New York Custom House.
Considering the prices that have been
paid for works by more recent artists ot
less tame, Mr. Rockefeller appears to
have got a bargain, provided, of course,
that the statue is really by Praxiteles.
This work is not proved beyond all
question n be by Praxiteles, but a
number of distinguished experts have
looked at it long and wisely and declared
that they were certain they recognised
the hand of the Athenian master. As a
matter of fact, there are no statues that
could be proved in a court ot law to be
the work of Traxlteles, but there are
some like the celebrated "Hermes and
Bacchus" that have a somewhat more
convincing pedigree than the Rockefeller
Venus.
Whatever the artistic merits ot this
statue, it has probably a more, entertain
ing and interesting history than any of
its more authentio rivals. Not the least
interesting peculiarity ot the lady is her
yellowish-brown tint, which has caused
her to be called "The Chocolate Venus."
The theory of the origin ot this remark
able color is that she was burned as a
witch when dug up in the middle ages,
which gave her a brown color, and that
in modern time she received a bath ot
acid to remove the burns, and thus pro
duced her yellowish tinge. Dut connected
with the color scheme is a most com
plicated story.
The statue attracted much attention
once before in the United States. That
was when it was exhibited at the Natural
Arts Club in New York in 1905. There
was then a most excited discussion about
its authenticity. Some maintained that
It bore all the evidences ot being an
original Grecian work of the age of
Praxiteles, while otbers asserted that U
wa clearly a clumsy attempt to copy
the Praxitelean style.
The statue then belonged to Charles
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Burned "
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Stewart Linton, an art connoisseur,
While it was on exhibition a curious con
troversy other lhan artistic arose over It.
Charles Edward Cookman, an artist, de
clared that the statue was exactly like
one bought at a sale by a friend of his
years previously and boiled in chemicals
to remove marks of charring upon it.
From another source it was learned
that a few years before the exhibition at
the National Arts Club there was a col
lection of art objects valued at $1,500,000
stored in a New York storage warehouse
In the name of Adolphus F. Linton, com
monly called "Lord Adolphus Linton,"
although the peerage recognizes no
person with that title. The existence of
this art collection became known when
an Omaha lawyer obtained a judgment
for 6,000 against Linton and seized the
collection to satisfy it Reference was
then made to the romantic marriage of
"Lord Adolphus" with an Ohio heiress,
and it was said that the reason he could
not satisfy the Judgment was that he was
travelling in Italy. The mysterious
"Lord Adolphus" has disappeared from
view since then, and it has been sug
gested that Charles Stewart Linton is his
eon.
Among the art objects in the storage
warehouse was a statue described as
"certified to be tbe work of Praxi
teles." There were also what purported
to be a portrait of the Duchess of Kent,
by Gainsborough, and other works in the
collection that should have had great
value. The collection was put up at
auction and brought $100, and after all
expenses were paid there remained $80
tor tbe claimant.
Still another complication in the his
tory of the Venus occurred while it was
on exhibition at the Arts Club. George
II. Story, acting director of the Metro
politan Museum of Art, declared that the
statue had been offered for loan to the
museum twelve years before in 1892
and rejected by him as not authentic.
Mr. Linton then defended his statue
warmly against Mr. Cookman and other
critics.
"The suggestion of Mr. Cookman is
absurd so far as it tends to identify this
marble figure with the one he describes,"
he said. "I bought It in 1891 from the
deck ot en Italic Teasel lying in the
Thames,
Found
In a
Stable
and
Secretly
Sent to
England.
4
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MM
f 1, H
f
i.
Boiled
In
Acid
In
Jersey
City
to
Remove
the
Burns.
"My attention was first called to thd'
Aphrodite by Signor Orsell, a painter,'
who called upon me in London and said
there was aboard a ship then lying tn the
Thames a great work of art 1 went
there and saw the Aphrodite. The
owner of it was an Englishman, resident
in Italy, who Bald he dared not tell the
place from which he had brought the
statue. The vessel had cruised about la
the Mediterranean.
"Many experts examined the Aphrodite
before I finally bought it in 1891." 1
After its original creation by the hand
of Praxiteles at Athens, the statue had
presumably been taken to Italy, like so
many Greek masterpieces, during the
period when Rome conquered Greece.
Centuries passed and then came the era
of barbarian invasions of Italy, when
works of art were frequently burled to
eave them. Venus was hidden beneath
tbe earth to save her from the Goths.
Then more centuries passed and the
forgotten statue was dug up in Italy in
the middle ages. Classical statues un
earthed in this manner were commonly
regarded as witches or creations of the
devil by mediaeval peasants, because
they could not understand their fairy
like beauty. The medlaevals then
solemnly burned the statues as witches
until they were charred beyond recogni
tion. Thus the color of the "Chocoate
Venus" may be explained. It may also
be true that It was subsequently cleaned
with acids as described by Mr. Cookman.
The most flatly contradictory views
were expressed by connoisseurs who
viewed the Venus or Aphrodite. Some
declared that the smooth, perfect con
dition of the marble proved clearly that
it could not possibly have been made
2,300 years ago, which was about the
time Praxiteles lived.
On the other hand, a brilliant expert
asserted that it was clearly a portrait
statue of Phryne, Praxlteles's favorite
model, made when she was about to step
into the sea at the feast of Poseidon to
symbolize the gratitude of mankind for
the gift of womanly beauty.
Another said that it was a clnmsy imi
tation of the Venus de Medici, now in the
Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and generally
regarded as en early Greek original. A
particularly acute critic pointed out that
the "Chocolate Venus" Bhowed the re
mains of a "cestus," or girdle, supposed
by the Romans to inspire love, and that
no Greek originals by Praxlteles's time
had this.
The statue left New York aftei its
famous exhibition and became the prop
erty of Sir Algernon Freeman Firth, an
art connoisseur, in England. lie sold it
recently and It was returned to New
York to become the property of Mr.
Rockefeller.
The Custom House experts the other
day examined it and pronounced it a
genuine antique work of art, entitled aa
such to enter the country free, whereas
a modern copy would have to pay a duty
ot 15 per cent ad valorem. i
The "Chocolate Venus" has now be
came the chief ornament of the gayly
named "Temple of Love," which is one
of the attractive features of Mr. Rocke
feller's magnificent mansion and estate
at Pocantlco Hills, N. Y. The Temple
is a Greek structure with root and sup
porting columns, but otherwise open to
the air. It is a delightful retreat in hot
weather. It stands in a sunken garden
and is connected with the house by an
underground passage. The whole ar
rangement has been planned eo that
Mr. Rockefeller's family and grand
children con play in the open air
without observation or Intrusion by,
strangers.
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'ft.
. teigjtev r ,
Put Up at Auction In New York to Pay',
Lord's Debts.
The Magnificent Rockefeller Mansion at Pocantico f tills, 14. Y. with Its Sunken Gardens and 'Temple of Love" of Which the Venus Is Now the Chief Ornament
Copyright, 1913. by th Star Company. Great Britain Rights RaservsO.
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