Old Masters Burnt

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28162, 28 December 1956, Page 7

Old Masters Burnt

(Rec. 9 p.m.) NEW YORK, December 26. Five oil paintings were destroyed and 15 others damaged by a fire in an art restoration studio today. The destroyed paintings were said to have been worth 200,000 dollars and the loss may be as much as 500.000 dollars when the damage to the others is finally assessed. Among the destroyed works were “Birth of the Virgin,” by Tintoretto, the Venetian master, and “Country Fair,” by Pieter Breughel the elder, the sixteenth century Flemish painter. The others were not identified. The fire broke out as artists were at work on a collection of 26 paintings from the Kress Foundation of Washington. The artists picked up the paintings and ran to the street, but not before 20 of them were damaged or destroyed by fire, smoke or water. The fire is believed to have been started by sparks from a blowtorch used in removing paint from a door. London Tube Breakdown.—London’s underground trains resumed full operation this morning after more than eight hours interruption by a fire 120 feet ~ below ground at Marble Arch station. People out in the West End for Boxing Night entertainment had to find other ways of getting home. —London, Dec. 27.