#art-restitution

#art-restitution

A miniature painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder not seen publicly since the end of World War II has been returned to the State Art Collections of Dresden, Germany. The painting depicts Friedrich III, also known as Frederich the Wise, a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. The Elector of Saxony is cast on a turquoise background and wears a reserved expression along with his characteristic thicket of beard and fur-trimmed robe.

The National Gallery of Victoria has quietly returned a 17th-century painting to the descendants of a Jewish family who lost it during the Nazi era, without public announcement or explanation. The painting, Lady with a Fan by Gerard ter Borch, was removed from the NGV's website in early September. The only public trace of its return appeared weeks later, in an update to the Lost Art Database in Germany.

These works were legitimately moved from Italy inside the Italian territory to preserve them, and they remain part of Italian heritage," Roberto Menia, a senator for Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party who is descended from Istrian exiles, told The Art Newspaper. "Slovenia is talking about the restitution of something that was never its own, and that has always been Italian," he added, stressing painter Carpaccio's Venetian roots.

The newly-reached agreement between the German government and the House of Hohenzollern will result in the establishment of a non-profit 'Hohenzollern Art Foundation' to manage reclaimed art.