40 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



In a letter dated December 30, 1841, Doctor Gibbes speaks 

 of the artist definitely as Spagnoletto. This picture was turned 

 over to Mr. Chapman for repair, as suggested by Mr. Poinsett, 

 and on January 27, 1842, the Secretary of the Institute wrote 

 to Doctor Gibbes: "On receiving your letter, in addition to the 

 steps taken as mentioned above, I called on Mr. Chapman, the 

 artist in whose hands the painting had been placed, and learned 

 from him that it was a superb work and in Spagnoletto's best 

 style; that it was somewhat hurt by being too tightly rolled; 

 that he would repair the canvas on the back part, but would 

 not think of trying to restore the injured parts of the picture, 

 whichwastoovaluableinitself to justify such an attempt. . . . 

 It is a treasure and by far the most distinguished contribution 

 which has been presented to the Institution by an individual." 



This painting is now preserved in the National Museum. It 

 measures 53 X inches high by 75 inches wide. 



VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE FROM PERA, Showing in the Fore- 

 ground A Turkish Procession Repairing to the Mosque op 

 St. Sophia. By Unknown Artist. 



Presented by Thomas Lloyd Halsey. Writing to Mr. Poinsett 

 from Paris, June 18, 1844, Mr. Halsey states: "At the sale of 

 Cardinal Fesch's paintings at Rome, I purchased a view of 

 Constantinople taken from Pera, which I left at Rome to the 

 care of Mr. Luther Terry, an American painter there established, 

 to be delivered to your order, intended as a present to the 

 National Institute at Washington. It is considered a good 

 painting, and as far as I can judge is generally correct; it has a 

 rich frame and is about 16 feet long by 4 feet broad." The 

 actual dimensions of the canvas are 26>^ inches high by 155X 

 inches wide. This picture was apparently brought to the 

 United States by a naval vessel, and reached Washington the 

 latter part of 1845. It is now in the National Museum. 



In a fruitless search for the name of the painter of this pic- 

 ture, it has been ascertained that a catalogue of the collection 

 of Cardinal Fesch was prepared in Italian, though it was ap- 

 parently not printed. A French translation, however, was pub- 

 lished, and for the following citation from it the writer is in- 

 debted to Mr. Alan S. Cole, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, 

 London, which possesses a copy. The volume is entitled, " Cata- 



