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Royall Tyler to Mildred Barnes, July 16, 1906

55, Rue de Verneuil.

July 16th 1906

Dear Mildred.

I have this moment read your letter and as it is now 8.30 A.M. and at 12 I expect to start for Salamanca by the Paris-Lisbon Express, and as that train only goes thrice-a-week and as I haven’t got any money from the Bank or arranged my things I must be brief.

I read the newspaper articleThis newspaper article has not been identified. first, and trembled when I turned to your letter. I thought, guilty as my conscience is, that it was a solemn warning and a hideous example of those who look too often upon Baroque. When I found only a tirade against American morals in the letter, I was reassured, and I shall be able to face the world unashamed again today.

I did not go to Belgium, as I think I must have mentioned in my last long letter to you,Either this letter is not extant or Royall Tyler did not mention his proposed trip to Belgium. which you have probably received ere now. As for the Sorbonne, I haven’t set foot in it for months. The conferences were some of them interesting, but they were attended by crowds of such females as cannot possibly be imagined unless one has seen them there. Beside the fact that they smell like so many burning boots, the very spectacle of the fair young devotees of Pallas (of 40–70 years) who sit with note books and have sat with note books for countless years is so paralyzing to me that I feel numb for hours afterwards. And then the lectures are not really worth it. LafenestreGeorges Lafenestre (1837–1919), a conservator of paintings at the Musée du Louvre and a professor at the École du Louvre and the Collège de France, Paris. I can’t imagine anyone wasting his time on who can have access to TaineHippolyte Adolphe Taine (1828–1893), a French critic and historian. and Richard Muther.Richard Muther (1860–1909), a German critic and art historian. If I ever venture into the Sorbonne again it will be to follow one of the special courses which are reserved for students. There the horrible mob of hags and harpies is not admitted.

I told you all about the retablo of ToroThe altarpiece, El Retablo de San Lorenzo de Toro, was originally located in the parochial church of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles in Toro, Spain, and is now located in the Museo Catedralicio in Segorbe, Spain. The altarpiece is dated to 1490 and attributed to an artist in the circle of the Master of Perea (active 1490–1510 in Valencia). See J. Rogelio Buendía, El Prado básico: Una vision del museo a través de los estilos (Madrid: Silex, 2001), 132. 2 years ago. I am going to try to buy it this time. It is a gothic frame, with some 10 paintings, by a Spaniard who had studied under Flemings, 10 ft. x 7 about. I don’t suppose I shall get it, but I hope I shall be able to prevent any one else from doing so.

Yrs. sincerely

RT

 
Associated Places: Paris (France)