This Hidden Room In Paris Hasn’t Been Opened In 68 Years… You’re Going To Want To See What’s Inside
LifeBuzz I Culture
In 1942, a 23-year-old woman, Madame de Florian, fled her apartment home in Paris, France to escape the Nazi raid. She locked it up and never returned, and the apartment remained untouched until her death at the age of 91. Her family discovered that she had been paying the rent and upkeep on it for her entire life. The family hired auctioneer Oliver Choppin Janvry and his team to visit the flat and inventory its contents. The room you’re about to see hasn’t been opened for 68 years!
It was the perfect time capsule of the early 1900s during the height of the Belle Epoque.
Madame de Florian inherited the apartment from her grandmother, Parisian socialite and actress, Marthe de Florian.
Other than the thick coat of dust, her apartment remained exactly as she left it that night before the raid.
The formal dining room had a chandelier, silverware, fine china, glassware, pots, and pans.
The biggest treasure of all was this painting by Italian artist Giovanni Boldini from 1898. The woman in the painting was Marthe de Florian, Madame de Florian’s grandmother. Although there weren’t any records of the painting, art experts managed to find a mention of it in a memoir by the famed painter’s widow. Their suspicions were also confirmed by love letters found in the apartment by Boldini.
The painting ended up being sold at auction for 2.1 million euros!