The mayor and the pop star. And in the middle a painting from the 19th century. A tortuous story. The first citizen of Amiens, who is sympathetic and solemn, addresses Madonna directly Bridget Fourwho asks her, with a slightly ironic air, to have back a painting that was, at least for a few weeks, if not a year, 2028, coincidentally the one in which the European city of culture that Amiens is running for is supposed to be proclaimed disappeared since 1918 and that, unbelievably, the ambiguous ways of the art market “deposited” like a shell in the magnum sea of sales and finally an auction on a wall of the singer’s mansion.
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«Madonna – attacks Madame Fouré, who sees an impression of the painting behind her – it is likely that she has never heard of Amiens, but there is a special connection between her and our city. A painting which in all probability is the one loaned to the Museum of Amiens by the Louvre before the First World War and which we have lost sight of».
PHOTOGRAPHY
The mayor has no interest in retaking work with police investigations and surrender requests. Instead, she takes care that her citizens can see it, but above all that Amiens is talked about and that Madonna even visits when she can. “Of course we do not dispute that you bought it legally, but you could lend it to us in view of our candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2028 for my fellow citizens to enjoy. This is my prayer, my wish that I express to you”. It all starts with a photograph. At the foot of the steps of her villa, Madonna poses in front of a large painting that creates a contaminating, almost pop effect next to her. It is probably a Work by French neoclassical painter Jérôme-Martin Langlois and depicts the mythological scene of the goddess of the hunt, Diana, leaning hopelessly against the beautiful body of Endymion, the shepherd-hunter caught in an eternal sleep precisely because of the goddess’ permission to put him into sleep every night In this photo, published in a 2015 Paris Match service, an Amiens researcher believed the cave was commissioned by Louis XVIII for the Diana Salon at the Palace of Versailles, completed in 1822 and acquired in 1873 Diana and Endymion to recognize the French Republic From the Louvre, the painting went five years later to the Museum of Fine Arts, now the Picardy Museum is called, in Amiens, until the German bombardment in March 1918, bombs and mortars for 28 days and 28 nights without interruption, which also destroyed one of the pavilions. The cadres were saved as much as possible, but when they returned at the end of the conflict, about fifteen were missing. They were believed to have been destroyed in the rubble, including the Diana and Endymion of Langlois. And in good faith, Madonna will buy at a Sotheby’s auction in 1989 what the catalog describes as “a replica of a painting of the same title and dimensions exhibited by Langlois at the Paris Salon in 1822, now destroyed”.
THE DIMENSIONS
The signature, the date, every recognizable identifier were missing. In reality, the dimensions would not be exactly the same. The picture that hangs in the hit star’s villa is three centimeters tall. Experts believe it was just clipped to remove the signature and sold without issue. The amount paid by Madonna: $1 million and $300,000, triple the starting estimate. «In the beginning, my goal was to make some noise for our candidacy – explains the mayor – Madonna bought the painting legally, but it would be nice to be able to exhibit Diana and Endymion in Amiens and fantastic if she could visit us ». Among the Picassos, Tamara de Lempicka, Frida Kahlo, Dalì and Basquiats in the diva’s collection, the soft and sensual Langlois now stands out like a jewel steeped in history. A story that is not over yet. In fact, the question is: What will Madonna answer?
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