COSTLY RELICS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 826, 26 May 1910, Page 5

COSTLY RELICS.

PROBABLE ORIGIN- OF PICTURE. Tho church of the Monastery of Saint ■ Paul the Hermit, at Czenstochau, in Russian Poland, contains the famous Virgin and Child attributed by legend to St. Luke, and held in high venera- ;- tion by tho Poles, of whom between d 200,000 and 300,000 make pilgrimages to !- the spot annually. d It is stated that the church was en,l tered on a Saturday night last October, is by two men disguised as pilgrims, who [. succeeded in stealing precious stones and [. other objects with which tho picture was k adorned. The objects stolen consist of u tho silver curtain hung before the pic,f hire; the crowns upon tho head of the ,y Virgin and of the Child set with dia- ■_ nionds given by Pope Clement in 1719 j. and valued at .£10,000; the dress of .' pearls presented by Queen Hodwig. of .. Poland, valued at hundreds of thoup. sands of pounds; diamond rings, and 0 other ornaments of great value. ' The enormous value of the jewels is 0 to be accounted for by the fact that for j. centuries countless costly gifts have been made to the picture, which is probably „ of Bj-zantine origin, and was brought " to Czenstochau in 1382 by Vladislav, £. Duke of Oppeln, the founder of tho 1 monastery. In consequence of the rob- • bery, the town, which is situated on the Wartha,, north of Cracow, and close I to the frontier, was occupied after the deed by Russian troops, and a reward ! j of several thousands of pounds was Q offered for the recovery of the jewels. ! ; An anonymous letter was subsequently " received at the monastery stating that r the thieves were willing to restore tho 11 stolen property in return for a con--0 siderable sum of money, It was assumed '.- that the thieves realized that the dis- }• posal of the jewels would entail great '- risk of detection. 1 ___^______