FORGOTTEN TAPESTRIES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19308, 8 October 1932, Page 14

FORGOTTEN TAPESTRIES.

After lying forgotten for over 40 years, two valuable tapestries, believed to have been ordered by King Philip the Good from Pasquier Grenier, of Tournia, in 1450, have been “discovered” rolled up in the Casino of Pius IV, a sort of summer-house in the Vatican gardens (states a correspondent). At first officials were at a loss to say what the tapestries w r ere and whence they came; but after some searchings among old files it has been decided that they were sent to the Vatican by the Queen Regent of Spain, the late Maria Christina, mother of Don Alfonso, ex-king of Spain. They were a present on the occasion of Pope Leo XIII’s jubilee, and w T ere to form part of the exhibition of the gifts he received from all parts of the world. How the tapestries got into the simmer-house nobody now can tell. Except that they are covered with dust they seem to be in good condition. After being cleaned they will be hung in the new picture gallery, which is to be open to the public in the autumn. The tapestries illustrate the first article of the Apostles' Creed and are rich and sombre in colouring. President Zamora, first President of Spain, receives approximately £IBOO j more a year in salary than President Hoover. During 1931 the Boy Scouts of Nova Scotia planted 80,000 trees in various parts of the province as part of a re- | afforestation plan. j By heating the soil of seed-beds with ; electricity an American horticulturist j is speeding up the production of crops by as much as six weeks.