Last night I was involved in the completion of something
that started, for me, in late June.
Then, as I blogged on 17th June, 2014, I helped to present an
18th century tapestry to its rightful owner. It had been stolen from his family’s chateau
in Normandy during the Second World War and from 1959 onwards, as a result of a
legitimate purchase, had graced the room that we had come to call the ‘Tapestry
Room’ in the University.
Yesterday evening I was one of 23 people assembled by the present
Count to celebrate the return of the tapestry and its placing on a wall in an
elegant salon in his chateau. Several of the other guests were owners of
other neighbouring chateaux, many of them with similar stories to tell of
losses of works of art during the war.
But we were celebrating a happy story of return. The British Ambassador to France and his wife
were present, and the French Minister of Culture was represented by her
Commissioner for the Normandy region.
It was a moving occasion, just as the event in Sheffield in
June in the University Librarian’s office had been. The Count’s local guests had not seen the
tapestry before. Once glasses of
champagne had been served, he embarked a substantial and emotional speech (in
French of course) about the loss of the tapestry, the death in a concentration
camp of his uncle who had been the owner of the chateau at the time, the other
two tapestries that had been similarly stolen, the specific significance of the
tapestry to the family (since it was commissioned by them and included a
coat-of-arms of a now defunct branch), the discovery a few months ago that the
University of Sheffield was now the owner, and his intense gratitude at what he
called a “noble and elegant donation” by
the university in returning the tapestry and the “miracle” that this
constituted. The Count had clearly prepared his speech fully,
and took me by surprise, since I had not realised there was to be a formal
element to the proceedings. So I felt I
had to give an off-the-cuff response – in French – expressing the pride of the
University that we had been able to right a wrong (albeit one not of our making),
and I was able to add that although I had spent many hours in the presence of
the tapestry while it hung on the walls of our university, it looked so much
better in its rightful place in the chateau.
The university’s actions were cheered with shouts of ‘Bravo” all round,
and throughout the evening guests came up to me and called our actions
“honourable”, “principled” and what one should expect from a good University.
So it was a wonderful occasion – worth the long journey out
to deepest Normandy for a single night’s stay.
It was a time to be very proud of the University and of our actions, and
to make new friends for Sheffield. We
assembled for drinks at 2000 and the party broke up at midnight after coffee
and calvados. But speaking French over
dinner for two-and-a-half hours was a challenge – although I don’t think I have
ever been flanked by two charming Countesses before in doing so.
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