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The Paris Time Capsule Apartment
In "Nostalgia" "Paris" on May 9, 2012 at 2:13 pm
A Parisian apartment left untouched for over 70 years was discovered in
the quartier of Pigalle a few summers ago and I’ve been meaning to share
the pictures with you. Time to unlock the vault …
The
owner of this apartment, Mrs. De Florian left Paris just before the
rumblings of World War II broke out in Europe. She closed up her
shutters and left for the South of France, never to return to the city
again. Seven decades later she passed away at the age of 91. It was only
when her heirs enlisted professionals to make an inventory of the
Parisian apartment she left behind, that this time capsule was finally
unlocked.
The
team that had the honor of opening what must have been a very stiff old
lock for the first time in 70 years, likened the experience to
‘stumbling into the castle of sleeping beauty’. The smell of dust, the
cobwebs, the silence, was overwhelming; a once in a lifetime experience.
There
is a further twist to the story. In the apartment a painting of
familiar style was discovered of a beautiful woman in pink. One of the
inventory team members suspected this might be a very important piece of
treasure. Along with the painting, they also found stacks of old love
letters tied with colored ribbon.
With
some expert historical opinion, the ribbon-bound love letters were
quickly recognized as the calling card of none other than Giovanni
Boldini, one of Paris’ most important painters of the Belle Époque. The
painting was his. The beautiful woman pictured in the painting was Mrs.
de Florian’s grand-mother, Marthe de Florian, a beautiful French actress
and socialite of the Belle Époque. She was Boldini’s muse. And, despite
him being a married man, she was also his lover. The art world went a
bit nutty for the whole story and the painting was later sold for $3
million at auction.
What
I find so intriguing about this story is not so much the discovered
painting and the revelation of a love affair between a great Italian
painter and the beautiful actress in an enchanting era, but more the
story of Mrs. de Florian and why she stayed away from Paris for so long.
What
kept her away even after the war? Was she running away from someone or
something other than the Nazis? For all those decades, her rent on the
elegant apartment in a flourishing city had been faithfully paid, but it
was left it to freeze in time. It all sounds like the perfect mystery.
via The Telegraph, photos by GETTY.
