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, 
which was too valuable in itself 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% inches high by 75 inches wide. 
VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE FROM PERA, Showing in the Fore- 
ground a Turkish Procession Repairing to the Mosque of 
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- 
