Still more curious is the story of the has-reliefs in the Louvre. One of these is called the "Kings of Parthenay,"- because it represents four ancient kings and came from the church at Parthenay (by legitimate means). Before it reached the Louvre, it belonged to a Bordeaux dealer named) Duthil Photographs show that at this time the bus-reliefs contained only the bodies of the four kings, the lower limbs having been broken off. Since then, as a visit to the Louvre shows, two of the kings have developed legs, with bare feet resting on foliage and on a miniature Gothic chapel. The other two, similarly improved, were sold by M. Demotte and are now in the Gardner Museum at~ Boston, Mass., where they are no doubt admired as perfect specimens of early French stone carving.
The clue fo the "'restoration" is supplied by the evidence of Mme. Boutron, widow of a very able sculptor now deceased: In her statement before the magistrate who is conducting the judicial inquiry,-she said that her husband was employed: by M. Demotte, who instructed him to restore the considerably damaged heads and bodies of these has-reliefs (which Mme. Boutron positively identifies) and to make four other has: reliefs with legs and feet, to be jointed on to the heads and dies. The work, in -which Boutron had the assistance of two other sculptors, named Durieux and. Neuville, lasted 2 long time, and when it was finished' it had to be done all over again. Boutron had put shoes on the feet, to the great dissatisfaction of M. Demotte, who argued that the feet should be bare.. Boutron, who prided himself on his knowledge of the period, was greatly annoyed, but finally gave way, and the legs were made with bare feet. After the has-reliefs were finished, they were carefully "seasoned," that is to say, treated so that the surface would have the appearance of very old stone carve ings. This work, Mme Boutron says, was done by a specialist employed by M. Demotte.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.