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Royall Tyler to Robert Woods Bliss, March 7, 1936

Finance Ministry

Budapest

7.III.36

Dear Robert.

I have your letter of the 5h. Yes, the RosenkranzThe Feast of the Rosary (Rosenkranzfest), a 1506 oil painting by Albrecht Dürer, now in the National Gallery, Prague. by DürerAlbrecht Dürer (1471–1528), a German painter. must once have been fine—but as it is, it’s a ruin.Over the centuries, the painting has undergone several restorations which have caused damage to the painted surface.

The list of works on Byz. Art is a huge one. You might look at the Bibliography in our Vol. IIL'art byzantin.—and there’ll be new books in that in Vol. III. And you might get the hitherto published Vols. (yearly) of Byzantion,Byzantion, a Belgian journal devoted to all aspects of Byzantine studies that was founded in 1924. and also of the Byzantinische Zeitschrift.Byzantinische Zeitschrift, a German journal of Byzantine studies that was founded in 1892. I’d also suggest Åberg’s book on ScandinavianNils Åberg, Das Nordische Kulturgebiet in Mitteleuropa während der jüngeren Steinzeit (Uppsala: Akademiska bokhandeln, 1918).—but you probably have that already.

There’s a recently appeared book by one H. St. L. B. Moss: The Birth of the Middle Ages (Oxford Clarendon Press)H. St. L. B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages, 395–814 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935).—quite a short book but very good, with up-to-date bibliography.

On Visigothic, there isn’t anything comprehensive and recent, but you should have Lampérez y Romea, Historia de la Arquitectura Española y la Edad Media (Madrid, 1908), Vol. IVicente Lamperez y Romea, Historia de la arquitectura cristiana española en la edad media según el estudio de los elementos y los monumentos, vol. 1 (Madrid: Blass, 1908). of which has a lot about Visigothic, and also Gómez Moreno, Iglesias Mozárabes (Madrid 1919).Manuel Gómez-Moreno, Iglesias mozárabes: Arte español de los siglos IX à XI (Madrid: Centro de Estudios Históricos, 1919).

Practically everything on Avar is in the Archeologica Hungarica series,Archaeologica Hungarica:a Magyar nemzeti múzeum régészeti osztaʹlyályának kiadványai. Acta arachaeologica Muzei nationalis hungarici. which I send you as it appears. Also Scythian. For Sassanian, you have the recent Russian publication, but you shd. also have Sarre and Herzfeld Iranische Felsreliefs,Friedrich Saare and Ernst Herzfeld, Iranische Felsreliefs: Aufnahmen und Untersuchungen von Denkmälern aus alt- und mittelpersischer Zeit (Berlin: E. Wasmuth, 1910). and Sarre’s Kunst des alten Persiens [sic] (Cassirer, 1922).Friedrich Saare, Die Kunst des alten Persien (Berlin: Cassirer, 1922).

And there are all of Strzygowski’sJosef Strzygowski (1862–1941), a Polish-Austrian art historian known for his theories on the influence of the art of the Near East on European art. books . . . .

You’ll say “ne m’en jetez-plus.”“I can’t take more.”

Yes, I saw about Horace Cole’sHorace Cole died in poverty in Paris on February 25, 1936. and John Coolidge’sJohn Gardner Coolidge (1863–1936), an American collector, diplomat, author, and the nephew of the Boston collector Isabella Stewart Gardner. He died on February 28, 1936. deaths.

I’m delighted you’re going to see the Cathedral textile.“Prague Rider Silk,” Chapter Library, Prague Cathedral. See Hayford Peirce and Royall Tyler, “The Prague Rider-Silk and the Persian-Byzantine Problem,” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 68, no. 398 (May 1936): 213–15, 218–21, and 224.

HorvathTibor Horváth (1910–1972), a Hungarian Migration-period specialist, archaeologist, and art historian. is back today, and I’ve instructed him to offer P. 8000 for the peacocks’ headsBZ.1936.27–28. and the gold armlet.BZ.1936.30.

Much love from us both to Mildred and you.

Yrs

R. T.

 
Associated People: Horace Cole
Associated Places: Budapest (Hungary)
Associated Things: L'art byzantin
Associated Artworks: BZ.1936.27-28; BZ.1936.30