Meissonier, his life and his art . Gravelot or an etching byChodowiczki, he found that the linen in which he had dressed hismodel fell into very different folds to those they drew. This causedhim a good deal of vexation. One day when he was turning over theEiicyclopcedia in the Bibliotheque Nationale, he discovered, under theheading lingerc (seamstress), that in the days of dAlembert andDiderot cambric was always cut on the cross instead of was the secret of the suppler and more delicate pleats. He camehome jubilant! His passion developed with his resources. His temperamentwas ve
Meissonier, his life and his art . Gravelot or an etching byChodowiczki, he found that the linen in which he had dressed hismodel fell into very different folds to those they drew. This causedhim a good deal of vexation. One day when he was turning over theEiicyclopcedia in the Bibliotheque Nationale, he discovered, under theheading lingerc (seamstress), that in the days of dAlembert andDiderot cambric was always cut on the cross instead of was the secret of the suppler and more delicate pleats. He camehome jubilant! His passion developed with his resources. His temperamentwas very favourable to research. According to circumstances, hebrought to bear upon it diplomatic patience or passionate that at Vernon, in a litde commune of Indre-et-Loire, therewere some precious tapestries in a dilapidated church, where they werein urgent need of money for necessary repairs, he set out, arrived atnight, got the cure up, examined them by candle-light, and paid for ••Si 7. ?K4 t; r ~««S^^. THE MASTER—THE MAN 69 them on the spot. At Poissy, his locksmith, the son of a postilion ofTriel, Achille Dault, who formerly rode post on the diligence, possesseda complete set of harness that he could not make up his mind to sell,Meissonier bided his time, without hurrying matters, and at last thebargain was struck. When he undertook the Su^e of Paris, he neverrested till he had secured Henri Regnaults great-coat and FriarAnthelmes gown. He delighted in autographs : It is so instructiveto touch the handwriting of a man ! Like all born collectors, he hadan instinct for discoveries, and with this instinct great good luck. Itwas when he was taking the waters of Evian, at the little village ofSaint-Gingolphe, that he discovered the counterpart of the berline inwhich he had travelled to Switzerland with the Feriots. Once in thepresence of the coveted object he was impelled to restore it. Heprided himself on having reconstructed many missing details withs
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidmeissonierhislif00meis
