My Chakra today

My Chakra today

Edouard Leon Cortès

Edouard Leon Cortès was known for his idealized, Impressionistic scenes of Parisian streets and rural French villages. His work is one of the most sought after for that period by collectors from Europe and North America.

This beautiful scene depicting the Rue Royale in Paris is one perfect exemple of his mastery of perspective and lighting.

This piece comes from a collector in Montreal who bought it from the Johnson Gallery in Chicago (inventory number 1579).

Frase del giorno: Quello che fa di te una persona elegante…

Bonneval-Sur-Arc, Rhone-Alpes, France (photo by Senai Senna) via: https://bit.ly/2IMGpPf

Bonneval-Sur-Arc, Rhone-Alpes, France (photo by Senai Senna) via: https://bit.ly/2IMGpPf

The Mourning Mary Magdalene by Colijn de Coter, ca. 1500-04 ”

The Mourning Mary Magdalene by Colijn de Coter, ca. 1500-04 ”

Inside San Pietro Basilica, Vatican city.

Inside San Pietro Basilica, Vatican city.

Adevarul despre trecutul glorios al româniei!

Pe vremea aceea România Mare era o monarhie constituțională cu reputatie mondială o economie agrară dar dezvoltată cu reputația casei regale cu familie in intreaga lume civilizată…nu un rugat, condus de regățeni analfabeți si redusi mintali din naștere, hoți, mincinoși și bolșevici fără cei șapte ani de acasă…de aceea hierul bănățean si gălățean era folosit in lumea largă, ca și grânele si oloiul, potrolul ploieștean…far toate s-au dus de râpă cu nemernicia rusă sus-pusă, un neam fe slugoi, slavi, murdari, criminali și comuniști, pe care nu-i poate suferi lumea, nicăieri si niciodată!

A, da, si podețul de la Cernavodă tot cu hier românesc a fost construit ca si zecile de mii de drumuri de hier in toată România Mare!

Cu regățeni la putoare ce avem e puruci, lipitori, șobolani care au furat banii cu care ar fi trebuit sa fie construite auto-străzi (care, contrar numelui nu se costruiesc singure) 🙂

You protect your head with a helmet, but don’t forget to protect your skin from the elements too. #PedalPowerProtection http://bit.ly/2vsXzz7

You protect your head with a helmet, but don’t forget to protect your skin from the elements too. #PedalPowerProtection http://bit.ly/2vsXzz7

Dads, doggos, and dinos.. sounds like a perfect day to us! Celebrate Father’s Day at NHMLA this weekend! Dads get half off admission when they mention ‘Fathers Day’ at the door. 📷: @giulio_meliani #HowDoYouMuseum

Dads, doggos, and dinos.. sounds like a perfect day to us! Celebrate Father’s Day at NHMLA this weekend! Dads get half off admission when they mention ‘Fathers Day’ at the door. 📷: @giulio_meliani #HowDoYouMuseum

La cireșe. ..

La cireșe. ..

Everliving music : Watch “Antonín Dvořák CZECH SUITE in D major Op.39, Jakub Hrůša” on YouTube

Today’s Holiday: Election of the Mayor of Ock Street

Today’s Holiday:
Election of the Mayor of Ock Street

During the 18th century, it was customary for the people of Abingdon to roast a black ox on St. Edmund of Abingdon’s Feast Day (June 19). In 1700 an argument arose during the ox roast over who would get the horns, and a man named Hemmings took possession of the horns. The crowd hailed him as the “Mayor of Ock Street.” Today, only people who live on Ock Street may vote for the mayor. The winner toasts his election by drinking from a special applewood chalice, and he is carried through the streets in a flower-decorated chair by the Abingdon Morris dancers. More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Today’s Birthday: John Howard Griffin (1920)

Today’s Birthday:
John Howard Griffin (1920)

Griffin was an American author who darkened his white skin with medication and sunlamps in order to experience the racial segregation of the southern US. He described his experiences in his controversial 1961 book Black Like Me, which details his interactions with others—both white and black—and the problems he encountered while traveling and attempting to meet basic needs. It is often recounted that Griffin died from skin cancer resulting from his efforts to darken his skin. Is it true? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

This Day in History: The Soweto Riots (1976)

This Day in History:
The Soweto Riots (1976)

In 1974, the South African government passed a decree making it mandatory for black schools to split instruction between English and Afrikaans—a language that many associated with the segregationist apartheid government. Two years later, at least 10,000 people—most of them young students—marched to Orlando Stadium in the city of Soweto to protest the change. Violence erupted when police began firing shots, and the resulting Soweto Riots continued for months. How many died during the riots? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Quote of the Day: Charles Dickens

Quote of the Day:
Charles Dickens

Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.

More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Article of the Day: Ouzo

Article of the Day:
Ouzo

Ouzo is a clear, anise-flavored liqueur made exclusively in Greece. While some say that its name derives from the Turkish word üzüm—meaning grape—a popular anecdote claims that it actually comes from the Italian phrase uso Massalia, meaning “for use in Marseilles.” According to the story, the phrase became synonymous with “superior quality” after being stamped on crates of silkworm cocoons exported in the 19th century. Why does ouzo turn white when mixed with water or ice? More…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Idiom of the Day: mess of pottage

Idiom of the Day:
mess of pottage

Something of little, trivial, or no value but which appears to be attractive or valuable on first reckoning. An allusion to Esau in Genesis 25:29–32, who sells to Jacob his birthright to his family’s estate for a bowl of lentil stew (pottage). Watch the video…: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Word of the Day: earsplitting

Word of the Day:
earsplitting

Definition: (adjective) Loud and shrill enough to hurt the ears.
Synonyms: deafening, thunderous
Usage: When the little boy throws a tantrum, he lets loose with the most fearful, earsplitting screams.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tfd.mobile.TfdSearch

Once Again, the UN Raises Its Anti-Semitic Head | The Stream (why is the USA PAYING so much money for a organization that sustains state terrorism?)

https://stream.org/once-again-the-un-raises-its-anti-semitic-head/

AP Photo/Khalil Hamra 2347

Once Again, the UN Raises Its Anti-Semitic Head
AP Photo/Khalil Hamra
2347
By MICHAEL BROWN
June 15, 2018 • 1 Comment

Michael Brown
It’s one thing to bring fair criticisms against Israel. It’s another thing to single out Israel for unrelenting, biased, and unfair criticism. And when someone constantly treats Israel unfairly and brings false accusations against the nation, that goes beyond anti-Zionism. It crosses the line into anti-Semitism. The UN has crossed that line time and time again.

Total Distortion
As noted by Israeli journalist Ben-Dror Yemini, “There is a place, indeed a vital place, for publicizing facts and advancing criticism. The problem lies in maintaining a sense of proportion. When the loaded term of opprobrium ‘apartheid’ is regularly attached to garden-variety cases of discrimination, when the various organs of the United Nations condemn Israel more than any other state in the world, when Amnesty International and other bodies zero in on Israel more than on any other country — the result is total distortion.”

And that total distortion has deadly consequences.

Resolutions Against Israel
Regarding the UN, Yemini notes that “in 2012, the UN General Assembly passed 22 resolutions against Israel, in contrast to four against the rest of the world. In 2015, the General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions singling out Israel for criticism — and only three resolutions regarding the rest of the world combined.

“As of 2010, since its inception in 2006, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted 33 resolutions against specific countries, of which 27 were against Israel. In 2013, the Council adopted 25 resolutions, four for all the other countries in the world and 21 against Israel.

“Hundreds of thousands of people around the world were victims of tyrannical regimes, and countless massacres and pogroms were committed. Israel did not commit even a fraction of these misdeeds, but it has been condemned more than any other country, perhaps more than all other countries combined” (Industry of Lies: Media, Academia, and the Israeli-Arab Conflict).

This has been the UN’s pattern for decades. And it was not about to break form this week, when it passed yet another anti-Israel resolution.

One-Sided Vote
This time the UN condemned Israel for “excessive use of force” against Gazan border protesters. It failed even to mention the provocations of Hamas terrorists. The vote was 120 nations for, 8 nations against, and 45 abstaining.

As reported by the Washington Post, “The U.N. General Assembly approved a Palestinian-backed resolution Wednesday blaming Israel for violence in Gaza and deploring its ‘excessive use of force,’ after narrowly rejecting a U.S. demand to add a condemnation of attacks on Israel by Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

“The votes reflected wide concern in the 193-member world body that the resolution sponsored by Arab and Islamic nations was one-sided and failed to even mention Hamas, which has fired over 100 rockets at Israel.”

Unpeaceful Protests

But Hamas not only fired rockets at Israel. It rallied tens of thousands of protesters whose goal was to break down the boundary fence and attack and kill Israelis. In the words of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, “We will take down Israel’s border and tear out Israeli hearts from their bodies.” Those sound like violent, fighting words to me.

In truth, these were anything but peaceful protests, and Israel did its level best to stop the violence before it happened. As noted by the Jerusalem Institute for Justice:

The Hamas terror

organization led another round of its confrontation campaign from Gaza against Israel. Orchestrated by Hamas, approximately 40,000 rioters gathered at the border and several thousand tried to storm into Israel at 13 locations.
The rioters hurled firebombs and explosive devices, burned tires, threw rocks and launched flaming objects with the intention of igniting fires in Israeli territory, breaking into Israeli villages, and harming Israeli security officers.
Israel made relentless efforts to prevent the masses from violently breaching the border. These included early warnings (by leaflets, direct phone calls, on radio and social media), as well as the use of non-lethal means (water cannons, tear gas, smoke grenades, rubber bullets).
Inflamed and violent crowds cannot be allowed to storm the border fence, opening a way to infiltrate into Israeli towns and threaten Israeli civilians.
But when it comes to Israel and the UN, there is only one side. It’s the anti-Israel side, which is often a close neighbor to the anti-Semitic side. Israel (= the Jewish nation) is always in the wrong.

The U.S. Response
Thankfully, under the Trump administration, and with the able leadership of Ambassador Nikki Haley, there has been a vigorous response to UN bias. As Haley remarked after the vote, “In the face of Hamas terrorists routinely inciting violence, firing over a hundred rockets into Israeli communities, and even attacking the crossing point that brings humanitarian supplies into Gaza, today the UN made the morally bankrupt judgment that the recent Gaza violence is all Israel’s fault.”

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, shared similar sentiments. “The hypocrisy of the General Assembly,” he noted, “knows no bounds as anti-Israel elements deceitfully blocked the condemnation of Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization. This was a badge of shame for the UN.”

The good news (what little good news there is after this latest fiasco) is that there was a strong effort to single out Hamas for its terrorist activities. However, the US-led effort did not pass. Still, as Haley noted, “a plurality of 62 countries voted in favor of the U.S.-led effort to address Hamas’s responsibility for the disastrous conditions in Gaza. We had more countries on the right side than the wrong side.”

That, for sure, is a positive sign. Forgive me, though, if I’m not holding my breath, expecting the UN to turn on a dime and begin to treat Israel fairly. Past history gives me cause to remain skeptical.

I would love to be proven wrong.
© 2018 The Stream. All Rights Reserved.

President Trump tweeted: Democrats are good at only three things, High Taxes, High Crime and Obstruction. Sad!

Check out @realDonaldTrump’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1007972046666690561?s=09

Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the Border by working with Republicans on new legislation, for a change! This is why we need more Republicans elected in November. Democrats are good at only three things, High Taxes, High Crime and Obstruction. Sad!

White House aides reportedly tried to ignore Trump’s request to set up a meeting with Putin – AOL News

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wants-summit-meeting-with-putin-2018-6

White House aides reportedly tried to ignore Trump’s request to set up a meeting with Putin
AOL.COM 2 hrs ago
President Donald Trump reportedly asked aides to set up a US-Russia summit after an informal chat with Vladimir Putin in November.
Top aides from the National Security Council reportedly sidelined Trump’s request by ignoring and waiting to see if he brought the subject again.
Trump has been criticized for his outreach to Russia, particularly after the Obama administration severed US-Russian ties following Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
Trump is reportedly expected to meet Putin during the NATO summit in July.
Top aides from the National Security Council reportedly sidelined President Donald Trump’s request for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin by ignoring and waiting to see if he brought the subject again, according to a Washington Post report published on Friday.

Trump privately asked aides to set up a US-Russia meeting after an informal chat with Putin during the the Asia-Pacific summit at Vietnam in November, US officials said. Trump shook hands and spoke briefly with Putin.

“After that meeting, the president said he wanted to invite Putin to the White House,” one official said to The Post. “We ignored it.”

National Security Council aides were reportedly hesitant to oblige that request, and decided to “wait and see if he raises it again,” an official told The Post.

Trump has been criticized for his outreach to Russia before, during, and after his 2016 election, because of that country’s role in meddling with the US electorate via elaborate influence campaigns on social media. In March, public backlash was especially fierce after Trump called Putin to congratulate him on his reelection victory, a move that Trump’s aides advised against. Some lawmakers sought to remind Trump that elections aren’t exactly fair in Russia.

“I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also),” Trump claimed in a tweet following the widespread rebuke.

Trump is expected to meet Putin for the NATO summit in July, several officials said to The Post. On Friday, Trump told reporters that a summit with Putin could be “possible.”

NOW WATCH: This top economist has a radical plan to change the way Americans vote

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SEE ALSO: Trump is so invested in his new relationship with Kim Jong Un, he says he gave the North Korean leader a ‘direct’ phone number

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No delay for Trump in ‘Apprentice’ contestant’s lawsuit – AOL News

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/06/14/no-delay-for-trump-in-apprentice-contestantsm-lawsuit/23459319/
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No delay for Trump in ‘Apprentice’ contestant’s lawsuit

Thomson Reuters
JONATHAN STEMPEL
Jun 14th 2018 3:01PM

NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) – New York state’s highest court on Thursday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest bid to avoid potentially having to answer questions under oath in a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on his television show “The Apprentice.”

The state’s Court of Appeals dismissed Trump’s request to halt Summer Zervos’ lawsuit for calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual misconduct.

It said the underlying ruling from which Trump was appealing was not a final ruling, warranting the appeal’s dismissal.

Trump and his lawyer Marc Kasowitz have argued that the U.S. Constitution deprives state courts of jurisdiction over sitting presidents and that Trump is immune from lawsuits over private conduct predating his entering the White House.

RELATED: Donald Trump with ‘The Apprentice’ creator Mark Burnett

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Donald Trump with ‘The Apprentice’ creator Mark Burnett
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Donald Trump and Mark Burnett during NBC 2003-2004 Upfront at The Metropolitan Opera House lincoln Center in New York City, New York USA. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)
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New York real estate mogul Donald Trump (L) and TV producer Mark Burnett talk to reporters, April 8, 2003 in New York City. Burnett is producing a new reality TV show for NBC called, ‘The Apprentice,’ where the winner will win a six-figure apprenticeship within the Trump Organization. (Photo by Jeff Christensen/WireImage)
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Donald Trump, Clive Davis and Mark Burnett during Wyclef Jean Listening Party for His New Album ‘The Preachers Son’ at Hudson Theater in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by L. Busacca/WireImage)
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LOS ANGELES – JULY 10: Executive Producers of ‘The Apprentice’ Donald Trump (L) and Mark Burnett speak with the press at the 2004 TCA Summer Press Tour at the Century Plaza Hotel on June 10, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown)
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LOS ANGELES – JULY 10: (L to R) Executive Producers Donald Trump, Mark Burnett, Vice Presidents of the Trump Organization George H. Ross and Carolyn Kepcher of ‘The Apprentice’ speak with the press at the 2004 TCA Summer Press Tour at the Century Plaza Hotel on June 10, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 19: Producers Mark Burnett and Donald Trump attend the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Roma Downey, Mark Burnett, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss with guests (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
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Donald Trump, Billy Bush and Mark Burnett (Photo by Mark Sullivan/WireImage)
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BEVERLY HILLS, CA – SEPTEMBER 20: (L-R) Creator/Executive Producer Mark Burnett, Mr. Trump’s fiancee Melania Knauss, and businessman Donald Trump attend the Museum of Television and Radio presents ‘The Apprentice’ at the Museum of Television and Radio on September 20, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
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Group portrait of, from left, American boxing promoter Don King, businessman Donald Trump, and television producer Mark Burnett as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 2005. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
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Donald Trump and Mark Burnett during ‘The Apprentice’ Finale- Arrivals at California Mart in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
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Donald Trump and Mark Burnett during Donald Trump Recruiting Search for the Next ‘Apprentice’ at Universal Studios Hollywood at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)
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Donald Trump and Mark Burnett during Donald Trump Honored With a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in front of Hollywood and Highland in Hollywood, California, United States. (Photo by M. Tran/FilmMagic)
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NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 13: (L-R) Moderator Erin Burnett, Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump, producer Mark Burnett and Ivanka Trump attend the Paley Center for Media’s presentation of ‘The Apprentice’ on September 13, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Steven A Henry/WireImage)
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Donald Trump and Mark Burnett (Photo by Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic)
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TODAY — Pictured: (l-r) Mark Burnett and Donald Trump appear on NBC News’ ‘Today’ show — Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire
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Thursday’s order marked the third time Trump failed to end Zervos’ lawsuit or at least delay it until after he left office.

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Emily Thall, a spokeswoman for Kasowitz, said Thursday’s order was on “purely procedural grounds” and did not address the merits of Trump’s case.

Mariann Wang, a lawyer for Zervos, said: “We look forward to continuing the discovery process and exposing the truth.”

Zervos, an “Apprentice” contestant in 2005, accused Trump of kissing her against her will at a 2007 meeting in New York and later groping her at a Beverly Hills hotel.

She came forward in October 2016, the month before Trump was elected, and soon after the release of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump spoke in vulgar terms about women.

Several women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct or having had affairs with them. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

At a June 5 hearing, Justice Jennifer Schecter of the state Supreme Court in Manhattan set a Jan. 31, 2019 deadline for the completion of depositions in the Zervos case, without directing that Trump be questioned.

Kasowitz said at the hearing he might ask the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether Trump can be sued in state court. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Tom Brown )

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US returns stolen 525-year-old Columbus letter to Vatican – AOL News

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/06/14/us-returns-stolen-525-year-old-columbus-letter-to-vatican/23459506/
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US returns stolen 525-year-old Columbus letter to Vatican

Thomson Reuters
PHILIP PULLELLA
Jun 14th 2018 9:11PM

VATICAN CITY, June 14 (Reuters) – A 525-year-old copy of a letter by Christopher Columbus that was stolen from the Vatican was returned on Thursday after joint sleuthing by U.S. Homeland Security agents and Holy See antiquity experts.

“We are returning it to its rightful owner,” said U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Callista Gingrich, at a handover ceremony in a frescoed room of the Vatican Library, which houses tens of thousands of rare, historic items.

While still at sea returning to Europe in February, 1493 – four months after discovering the New World – Columbus penned a letter to Spain’s monarchs describing what he had found and laying the groundwork for his request to fund another voyage.

His original letter was written in Spanish. A Latin translation was manually printed in several copies and they became the main vehicle for spreading news of his find to the royal courts of Europe and the papacy.

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US returns stolen Christopher Columbus letter to Vatican
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Monsignor Cesare Pasini, chief of the Vatican Library, flips through a letter written by Christopher Columbus that had been stolen from its archives, returned by U.S. Homeland Security officials and American ambassador to the Vatican Library, at the Vatican June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/Pool
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A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus, that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by United States to the Vatican Library, is seen displayed at the Vatican June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/Pool
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U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Callista L. Gingrich (L) and Archibishop Jean-Luis Brugues pose in front of a copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus, that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by United States to the Vatican Library, during a ceremony at the Vatican June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/Pool
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A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus, that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by United States to the Vatican Library, is seen displayed at the Vatican June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/Pool
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A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus, that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by United States to the Vatican Library, is seen displayed at the Vatican June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/Pool
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A book published in 1493 of a Latin translation by Leandro di Cosco of the letter by Christopher Columbus describing his discoveries in the Americas, which was stolen from the National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona and sold for approximately $1 million U.S. dollars is shown in this photo provided June 6, 2018. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will return the letter to Spain after an investigation by ICE� Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with the U.S. Attorney� Office for the District of Delaware led to the recovery of the stolen letter. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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A book published in 1493 of a Latin translation by Leandro di Cosco of the letter by Christopher Columbus describing his discoveries in the Americas, which was stolen from the National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona and sold for approximately $1 million U.S. dollars is shown in this photo provided June 6, 2018. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will return the letter to Spain after an investigation by ICE� Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with the U.S. Attorney� Office for the District of Delaware led to the recovery of the stolen letter. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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A book published in 1493 of a Latin translation by Leandro di Cosco of the letter by Christopher Columbus describing his discoveries in the Americas, which was stolen from the National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona and sold for approximately $1 million U.S. dollars is shown in this photo provided June 6, 2018. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will return the letter to Spain after an investigation by ICE� Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with the U.S. Attorney� Office for the District of Delaware led to the recovery of the stolen letter. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by the United States to the Vatican Library, is pictured during a ceremony at the Vatican on June 14, 2018. (Photo by TONY GENTILE / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read TONY GENTILE/AFP/Getty Images)
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Monsignor Cesare Pasini, chief of the Vatican Library, flips through a letter written by Christopher Columbus that had been stolen from its archives, and returned by the US Homeland Security officials and American ambassador to the Vatican Library on June 14, 2018 at the Vatican. (Photo by TONY GENTILE / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read TONY GENTILE/AFP/Getty Images)
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A copy of a letter written by Christopher Columbus that had been stolen from Vatican archives and returned by the United States to the Vatican Library, is pictured during a ceremony at the Vatican on June 14, 2018. (Photo by TONY GENTILE / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read TONY GENTILE/AFP/Getty Images)
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A book published in 1493 of a Latin translation by Leandro di Cosco of the letter by Christopher Columbus describing his discoveries in the Americas, which was stolen from the National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona and sold for approximately $1 million U.S. dollars is shown in this photo provided June 6, 2018. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will return the letter to Spain after an investigation by ICE� Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with the U.S. Attorney� Office for the District of Delaware led to the recovery of the stolen letter. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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One of the Latin letters, printed in Rome by Stephan Plannack in 1493, found its way into the Vatican Library. Known as the Columbus Letter, it is made up of eight pages, each about 18.5 cm by 12 cm.

But in 2011, an American expert in rare manuscripts received a Columbus letter for authentication and deemed it to be original.

The year before, the same expert had studied a Columbus Letter in the Vatican Library and suspected that it was a fake because, among other factors, its stitching marks did not match up with those on the binding.

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The letter in the United States, however, matched up perfectly to the binding marks of the leather cover of the letter he had studied in the Vatican.

The expert, who was not identified, notified Homeland Security art investigators, who began working quietly with Vatican inspectors and rare books experts.

They concluded that at some time after the authentic eight-page letter became part of the Vatican Library, someone took it out of its binding and replaced it with a forgery so good that no-one noticed.

“We do not know exactly when the substitution took place. We will probably never know who the forger was,” said Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, the Vatican’s chief archivist and librarian.

Homeland Security agents, who were present at Thursday’s handover, and their Vatican counterparts, coordinated the examination of the letters by other experts, including some at Princeton University.

Their investigations determined that the authentic Columbus letter had been sold to a New York book dealer by Marino Massimo De Caro, who Homeland Security defined as a “notorious Italian book thief.”

He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Italy for the theft of some 4,000 ancient books and manuscripts from Italian libraries and private collections.

The authentic letter was purchased in 2004 by the late American collector David Parsons for $875,000. After the investigations, his widow agreed to voluntarily return the letter to the Vatican Library.

The letter is now worth about $1.2 million, officials at the handover ceremony said.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella. Editing by Patrick Johnston)

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