time in a bottle

for over 70 years this parisian apartment was uninhabited, locked away, the rent paid.  the woman who owned the flat, mrs. de florian,  left for the south of france before the second world war & never returned. when she died at 91 her heirs hired professionals to inventory the apartment.  what they found was a treasure trove of turn of the century objects including a painting by italian artist giovanni boldini.

it turned out that the beautiful woman in pink was the apartment's owner's grandmother, marthe de florian, a french actress & socialite of the belle époque.  they also found a stacks of old love letters tied with colored ribbon. marthe had been boldini's muse & lover (despite his married status) & the letters were from him.  once the painting was confirmed a boldini it went up for auction & sold for 3 million dollars.

can you imagine finding this?  it would be a dream. frozen in time. i would be in heaven!