Letter from J.D. Passavant to an unknown addressee giving information about an art dealer, M. Noé

In response to the addressee's enquiries, Passavant writes that he believes M. Noé is dead. He was a much-travelled, skilful art dealer who said he was a native of Brussels. The Städel'sche Institut bought a few good pictures from him about 20 years ago. The two pictures he attributed to Raphael, a Madonna and Raphael's beloved, he took to St Petersburg and sold to Tsar Nicholas for the Hermitage.

The date written by Passavant, 1856, has been corrected in pencil to 1857, which is likely to be correct, as this letter was probably enclosed with VIC/ADDA10/85/547 and addressed to its writer, whose signature has not yet been deciphered.

Related Material: For related correspondence, see VIC/ADDA10/85/547.