ICOM International Council of Museums - International Institute for ...

that the budget was very tight. We noticed that on top of the letter that Seyrigaddressed to the Secretary General of the High-Commission, one got to know theanswer. Seyrig’s observations were accepted, and they consisted of the objection ofany alteration of the aesthetics of the building (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 30 .In 1926, according to another report, the National Museums under the French Mandatewere given full financial and administrative autonomy. They received all the antiquitiescoming from the assigned territories. A project of historical specialisation of museumswas under study (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 31 . The museums functioned under the directresponsibility of the state of Lebanon. Part of the archaeological collection would betransported in 1934 to a new location (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 32 . Until 1928, the NMB wasunder the curatorship of Virolleaud, director of the Service of Antiquities and theViscount Philippe de Tarazi, curator of the Lebanese National Library (Chéhab, 1937:i). de Tarazi took over as Honorary Curator and Chéhab as a temporary curator of theNMB (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 33 . It was only in 1928 that Chéhab took over the curatorship(Chéhab, 1937: i).In May 1931, the Protestant Mission insisted that the Diaconesses building should beevacuated by June 30, 1931. There was a contract signed on April 23, 1925 for aperiod of three years and renewed three times. This contract could not be renewed asthe Diaconesses building was needed for a school. The museum which was housed infour rooms and the sculptures that were housed in the garden needed to betransferred. There was also the question of the Ford collection. It was impossible forthe transfer to occur as some time was needed in order to evacuate the Ford collectionand the sculptures to the basement of the new museum (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 34 . It doesnot seem that the evacuation really occurred because in June 1934, the High-Commissioner wrote that the five rooms located under the library needed to be emptiedalong with the garden. He also said, “I think on the other hand that the galleries of theSouth building that contained the small artefacts and the Phoenician antiquities couldbe evacuated with no danger to the collections; we have to wait for this operation tohappen for the galleries of the new museum to be ready to receive this collection asthey have a gallery devoted to them.” It would take three weeks for the transfer tohappen once the galleries of the new museum and its basement have new windows.He also added that the construction work was very slow and that it would take three tofour years before the museum was ready.The construction of the NMB had started in 1929 and the sum of three million FrenchFrancs was already spent by 1934. According to the Delegate of the LebaneseRepublic, three million French Francs were needed to complete the work. The High-Commissioner insisted that there should a clear estimate of how much money wasneeded and control of the way things were executed (Arch. IFAPO/SAHC) 35 . In March1932, the administration of the museum wanted to decorate the walls of the museumwith important frescoes that would illustrate the main periods of Lebanese history. TheFrench opposed this project as it was against not only their economic principles, butalso their aesthetic principles. This issue was taken into serious consideration becausemuseum curators in Europe and the Americas had a good deal of experience in30 Letter No. 856/ S.A. from Henri Seyrig, director of the Antiquities Service to the Secretary General of the High-Commission, dated Beirut, October 2, 1934.31 Report on the activities of the Antiquities Service, dated 1926.32 Report on the activities of the Antiquities Service, dated 1933/1934.33 Order No. 3672 dated Beirut, August 17, 1928.34 Letter No. 344/S.A. from the High-Commissioner of the French Republic to the Delegate of the High- Commissionnext to the government of the Lebanese Republic, dated Beirut, May 1931.35 Notice to the Antiquities Service No. 591/ S.A. from the High-Commissioner, dated Beirut, June 12, 1934.7