Spanish museum returns two 15th century paintings to Poland
Spain’s Museum of Pontevedra has returned two paintings to Polish authorities after experts determined the works had been stolen by Nazi forces during World War II.
Attributed to the school of the Dutch painter Dieric Bouts, they were taken from the Czartoryski collection in Gołuchów when the city was under German occupation.
The museum handed the 15th-century paintings, ‘Mater Dolorosa’ and ‘Ecce Homo’ to a delegation from the Polish Ministry of Culture.
"The unit for the recovery of plundered works of the Polish Ministry of Culture, identified these paintings through one of our Facebook posts, publicizing some of our works," said museum director, José Manuel Rey.
Although the paintings were identified by Polish officials in 2020, they first had to obtain official permits for the transfer to take place.
"We’re helping to restore an injustice, helping to restore plundered art, helping in whatever way we can to make the world a better place," said César Mosquera, Vice-President of the Pontevedra Provincial Council at the handover ceremony.
Poland lost a large part of its cultural heritage during the Second World War.
About half a million works are still missing and the Ministry of Culture has a stolen art division that maintains a database of them.
It hopes that, like these two paintings, many of them will one day return home.
The museum handed the 15th-century paintings, ‘Mater Dolorosa’ and ‘Ecce Homo’ to a delegation from the Polish Ministry of Culture.
"The unit for the recovery of plundered works of the Polish Ministry of Culture, identified these paintings through one of our Facebook posts, publicizing some of our works," said museum director, José Manuel Rey.
Although the paintings were identified by Polish officials in 2020, they first had to obtain official permits for the transfer to take place.
"We’re helping to restore an injustice, helping to restore plundered art, helping in whatever way we can to make the world a better place," said César Mosquera, Vice-President of the Pontevedra Provincial Council at the handover ceremony.
Poland lost a large part of its cultural heritage during the Second World War.
About half a million works are still missing and the Ministry of Culture has a stolen art division that maintains a database of them.
It hopes that, like these two paintings, many of them will one day return home.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
