Ownership Resolutions

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (澳门六合彩开奖现场直播) is a leader in the field of research on provenance, or the history of ownership, of works of art in its encyclopedic collection. The Curator for Provenance works with curators throughout the Museum to research and document the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 collection on an ongoing basis. Findings are included in the Museum鈥檚 .

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 follows the highest standards of professional practice in regards to issues of ownership and in its response to claims for works in the collection. If research demonstrates that a work of art has been stolen, confiscated, or unlawfully appropriated without subsequent restitution, then the Museum will notify potential claimants, and seek to resolve the matter in an equitable, appropriate, and mutually agreeable manner. The following is a list of ownership resolutions at the Museum since the late 1990s.

2024鈥擳urkish Necklace (1982.413)

On September 3, 2024, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached an agreement with the Republic of T眉rkiye to return a gold and carnelian Necklace, which was probably looted from a tomb near the village of Kendirlik in 1976.

The fragmentary necklace is believed to come from the archaeological site of Bintepeler, which consists of over one hundred tumuli, or burial mounds. In 1976, the archaeological museum of Manisa, T眉rkiye carried out excavations at a tumulus near Kendirlik in response to reports of looting in the area. From the burial site and from a local inhabitant, archaeologists recovered beads and other fittings that are nearly identical to those in the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 necklace. It is likely that the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 necklace originated at the same tumulus. The finds that were recovered are now housed at the Manisa Museum. The necklace, on the other hand, was probably smuggled out of the country.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the necklace from a London dealer in 1982, at which time it was said to come from Asia Minor (another name for ancient Anatolia, which is today T眉rkiye). No other ownership history was provided. Scholars alerted curatorial staff to literature on the looting of the tomb and the comparative elements in Manisa. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 contacted the offices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of T眉rkiye through the Turkish Consul General in Boston to initiate discussions about its return.

2024鈥擟hild鈥檚 Coffin (1985.808)

In 2024, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached an agreement with the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum (Sweden) to return a ceramic Child鈥檚 Coffin, which was taken from the Gustavianum鈥檚 collection decades earlier without authorization.

The coffin was scientifically excavated in 1920 at Gurob, Egypt by the British School of Archaeology in Egypt under the direction of Flinders Petrie. The publication Unseen Images: Archive Photographs in the Petrie Museum (2008) includes a photograph of the coffin in the process of excavation. There, it is noted that the coffin was sent to Uppsala as part of the division of finds, a system that distributed ownership of excavated artifacts. Curatorial staff at the Gustavianum confirmed that the coffin was sent to the Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities at Uppsala University, as it was then called, in 1922. The museum catalogued and numbered it. The coffin had been missing from the museum since at least 1970.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the coffin in 1985 from an agent who claimed to represent the Swedish artist Eric St氓hl (1918鈥�1999). The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 was given a letter purportedly written by St氓hl, which describes how he excavated the coffin himself at Amada, Egypt, in 1937. For years, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 published the coffin online and in printed catalogues with this provenance. St氓hl, however, is not known to have participated in any excavation in Egypt. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 was also given authentications for the coffin from experts in Sweden that appear to have been falsified.

Curatorial staff noted the discrepancy between the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 provenance and the evidence offered by the excavation photograph. This discovery prompted an investigation into the coffin鈥檚 acquisition and ownership history. As part of this investigation, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached out to colleagues at the Gustavianum. The two institutions cooperatively and amicably exchanged information about the coffin and came to the same conclusion, namely that it was taken from Uppsala University鈥檚 collection without authorization and should be returned.

2023鈥擳urkish Bronze Sculptures

On October 12, 2023, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 deaccessioned two fragmentary ancient bronze sculptures, a leg (Right leg of a man) and a face (A personification or idealized Greek king), and transferred them to the New York County District Attorney鈥檚 office for return to the Republic of Turkey. Both objects are believed to come from the archaeological site of Bubon, near Ibecik, Turkey, which underwent extensive looting in the early- to mid-1960s.

The leg was very probably part of a life-sized statue of an emperor from the imperial sanctuary at Bubon. The face, which does not appear to come from the same statue as the leg, emerged on the antiquities market along with the leg and other Bubon fragments. In 1966, dealer Jerome Eisenberg of Royal-Athena Galleries, New York showed this ensemble to 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 curator Cornelius Vermeule. Eisenberg gave the leg to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 1968 and sold the face to a private collector. The family of that private collector donated the face to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 2003.

Since Bubon was not scientifically excavated until 1967, the leg and the face were almost certainly illicitly removed shortly before appearing on the market. In light of an investigation by the New York District Attorney, in 2023 the Museum reached out to representatives of the Republic of Turkey about the sculptures. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 voluntarily transferred the leg and the face to the District Attorney鈥檚 office for their return.

2023鈥�Customers Conversing in an Interior (L-R 55.2023)

In April 2023, Susan and Matthew Weatherbie and the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached an agreement with the heirs of art dealers Paul Graupe and Arthur Goldschmidt, resolving the ownership of Adriaen van Ostade鈥檚 painting Customers Conversing in an Interior (1671), which had been sold to Adolf Hitler in the early 1940s. The agreement allows the painting to be retained and exhibited at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, and donated to the Museum at a future date by the Weatherbies.

By 1937, the Ostade panel was part of the stock of Paul Graupe et Cie., a Paris-based gallery run by the Jewish art dealer Paul Graupe. Graupe and his business partner, Arthur Goldschmidt, who was likewise Jewish, had been compelled to leave Nazi Germany for France due to racial persecution. In 1939, Graupe again fled, first to Switzerland, then to Portugal in 1940, and ultimately to the U.S. in 1941. His gallery stock was left behind in occupied Paris. In 1940, after he was sent to an internment camp and conscripted into service, Goldschmidt fled to the south of France, which was then not occupied. Before leaving Europe, Graupe asked for Goldschmidt鈥檚 help in saving his gallery stock, including Customers Conversing in an Interior, which he hoped could be sent to Switzerland or the U.S. In February 1941, however, Goldschmidt sold the Ostade to Karl Haberstock, an agent for Hitler. Goldschmidt was able to immigrate to Cuba later that year, making his way to the U.S. in 1946.

Haberstock sold the painting to the Reich Chancellery in April 1941. It was selected for inclusion in the art museum Hitler planned to build in Linz, Austria, the so-called 贵眉丑谤别谤尘耻蝉别耻尘. Customers Conversing in an Interior was recovered by Allied forces after the end of World War II and shipped to France for restitution. It is not known if Graupe ever learned what had happened to it. The painting was not claimed by the end of the 1940s, and as a result the French state auctioned it in 1951. It changed hands several times on the European art market before Susan and Matthew Weatherbie bought it, unaware of its Nazi-era history, in 1992. It is one of 28 Dutch and Flemish paintings the Weatherbies pledged to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 2017.

2022鈥擯ortrait of a Man (61.1136)

In 2022, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 transferred a Late Imperial marble Portrait of a Man to the Republic of Italy, from where it is believed to have been stolen during World War II.

The marble head dates to the 3rd or 4th century C.E. Its features were re-cut in antiquity from an earlier portrait, and it may represent the emperor Maximianus Herculius. It was found in December 1931 at Minturno, Italy, during a series of excavations undertaken by the University of Pennsylvania and the Superintendency of Campania in Naples. The head was published, inventoried and illustrated in a catalogue of sculptures from the excavations in 1938. During World War II, a number of archaeological finds and other works of art stored at Minturno were stolen, probably by German troops, or were otherwise dispersed in the upheaval of war. The Portrait of a Man was almost certainly taken at this time. After it was photographed in the 1930s, the head suffered damage and lost its nose.

The Museum purchased the sculpture from the Swiss gallery M眉nzen und Medaillen in 1961, with no documentation of its collecting history. In July 2019, Professor Irene Bald Romano of the University of Arizona alerted 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 staff that the head had gone missing from Italy during World War II. This information prompted an investigation of the sculpture鈥檚 provenance. After verifying its excavation at Minturno and the loss of artwork there during the war, the Museum wrote in September 2019 to the Italian Ministry of Culture to inform them of the sculpture鈥檚 whereabouts. In September 2020, the Ministry affirmed the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 findings and requested that the head be returned.

2022鈥擬alian Antiquities

On February 8, 2022, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (澳门六合彩开奖现场直播) reached an agreement with the Republic of Mali, transferring ownership of two objects of Malian origin that are believed to have been the subject of illicit excavation and trafficking.

The two Djenn茅 terracotta figures are archaeological materials known to be at high risk for theft and looting. Fragments of one鈥攖he Figure of a Ewe鈥攚ere probably discovered at the village of Dary, Mali, around 1986 or 1987. The other, a Kneeling Figure, is said to come from a tumulus near Djenn茅, Mali, in the late 1980s. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 exhibited both objects in the 1990s, at which time they were on loan from collector William Teel. He acquired the objects in good faith in the United States and bequeathed them to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 2012.

Recognizing that these objects might have been illegally removed from Mali, and that their ownership and export would be regulated by Mali鈥檚 Law No. 85-40/AN-RM Concerning the Protection and Promotion of the National Cultural Heritage of 1985, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 contacted the Ministry of Culture in 2013 to seek its authorization before proceeding with their acquisition. The Ministry of Culture responded that the export of these figures had not been approved. Upon receipt of this information, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 began to arrange for the return of the objects to Mali. Discussions continued from that time until 2022, when the agreement between Mali and the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 was finalized, allowing for the restitution of the figures.

2021鈥擥roup of Italian Vessels (1995.820鈥�1995.828)

On December 16, 2021, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 deaccessioned nine ancient vessels and transferred them to the New York County District Attorney鈥檚 office for return to the Republic of Italy. This was in response to an investigation, led by the District Attorney, into the activities of dealer Edoardo Almagi脿. The works came to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 1995 as a gift from two private collectors, who had purchased them from Almagi脿 earlier that year. They had no documented provenance prior to the 1995 sale. The vessels鈥� distinctive appearance, and the spiked handles in particular, suggests that the group came from the archaeological site of Crustumerium, near Rome, which is known to have been heavily looted in the 1980s and 1990s. The Museum first learned of an Italian-led investigation into Almagi脿 in 2010. At that time, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 verified the known ownership history of the vessels and ensured images and provenance were available online and easily accessible, should anyone have new information or wish to make a claim.

2021鈥�View of Beverwijk (1982.396)

In October 2021, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (澳门六合彩开奖现场直播) reached an agreement with the heirs of Ferenc Chorin to return the painting View of Beverwijk by Salomon van Ruysdael, which was looted during World War II.

The painting belonged to the Jewish collector Ferenc Chorin (1879 鈥� 1964) of Budapest, who deposited it along with other works of art at the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest in 1943. Chorin and his family were persecuted by National Socialist forces, fled Hungary in 1944, and settled in New York in 1947. At the end of World War II, the bank reported that the contents of Chorin鈥檚 deposit had gone missing in January 1945, during the Siege of Budapest. Despite the family鈥檚 efforts to locate the contents of the bank vault in the postwar years, they never recovered the Ruysdael. The painting was included in a 1998 publication on Hungarian war losses, but because it was published with an incorrect image and description, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 was not aware that the View of Beverwijk had belonged to Chorin or was considered missing.

The Museum acquired the painting in 1982 from a London dealer with no information about its history other than that it had come from a Swiss collection. The work鈥檚 provenance between 1945 and 1982 remains untraced.

In 2019, scholar S谩ndor Juh谩sz notified the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 that the View of Beverwijk once belonged to Frigyes Gl眉ck of Budapest, in whose collection it had been published in 1924. This new information, posted on the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 website, allowed the Chorin heirs to locate their family鈥檚 painting鈥攌nown to have come from the Gl眉ck collection鈥攊n 2021.

2017鈥擲even pieces of porcelain (2017.76鈥�2017.82)

In March, 2017 the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached an agreement with the Estate of Emma Budge, allowing the Museum to retain seven pieces of 18^th century German porcelain that were sold in Berlin in 1937.

The commedia dell鈥檃rte figures, made by the porcelain manufactories H枚chst, F眉rstenburg, and Fulda, all belonged to Emma Lazarus Budge (1852 鈥� 1937), who built a large collection of decorative arts in her home in Hamburg. Upon her death in 1937, she left the disposition of her art collection to her estate executors, specifying that she did not wish the collection to be sold within National Socialist Germany. Mrs. Budge and all of her estate executors were Jewish.

Nevertheless, on October 4鈥�6, 1937, a large portion of Emma Budge鈥檚 art collection was auctioned in Berlin. The proceeds from the sale were very probably credited to the account of the Budge estate at M. M. Warburg Bank in Hamburg. The settlement of the estate, however, was delayed until 1939. In the meantime, Warburg Bank was Aryanized, or sold to non-Jewish owners. Several of Mrs. Budge鈥檚 estate executors were dismissed from their roles. Many of her heirs, who were Jewish, fled Germany. Those who remained were subject to persecution. The estate funds that were ultimately disbursed were placed into tightly-controlled, blocked accounts to which the heirs did not have full access. Thus, as the direct result of Nazi persecution, the proceeds from the sale were never realized.

The seven pieces of porcelain at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 were purchased at the 1937 auction by Otto and Magdalena Blohm, likewise porcelain collectors from Hamburg, and probably acquaintances of Emma Budge. Mrs. Blohm moved to New York after World War II, bringing the porcelain collection with her. Edward and Kiyi Pflueger acquired the figures from the Blohm collection and bequeathed them to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 2006.

2014鈥擭igerian Antiquities

In June, 2014, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston reached an agreement with the National Commission of Museums and Monuments, Nigeria (NCMM), transferring to the Commission eight antiquities of Nigerian origin that were believed to have been the subject of illicit trafficking.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 received the objects as part of the bequest of the late William E. Teel, who acquired all eight objects in good faith in the 1990s from dealers in the United States and Europe.

The antiquities include two Nok terracotta figures and a terracotta Ife head, archaeological materials that are known to be at high risk for theft and looting. The group also includes an ekpu, or ancestral figure dating to the 18th or 19th century, which was part of the collection of the Oron Museum, near Calabar, Nigeria, as late as the 1970s; and a bronze altar figure of about 1914, which was likely stolen from the Royal Palace in Benin City in 1976. Two terracotta heads produced in the Kingdom of Benin, and a group of Kalabari screen figures appear to have been illegally exported.

The Museum began the process of researching the provenance of the objects after receiving notification of the bequest. Recognizing that these eight objects were probably illegally removed from Nigeria in recent years, and that their export would have been regulated by Nigeria鈥檚 National Commission for Museums and Monuments Act (chapter 242) of 1990, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 contacted the NCMM to seek its authorization before proceeding with their acquisition. The NCMM swiftly responded that the export of these objects had not been approved; and, indeed, that several documents which purportedly authorized their sale and export were inauthentic. Upon receipt of this information, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 began to arrange for the return of the objects to Nigeria.

2013鈥擱oman Statuette of Mercury (04.9)

In January, 2013, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 returned a bronze statuette, Mercury, to the Mus茅e de la Chartreuse in Douai, France, from which it had been stolen in 1901. Since 1904 the Imperial Roman figure, dating to the 1st or 2nd century AD, was in the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 collection, where it was identified as Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the gods.

The statuette was discovered around 1780 near Le Quesnoy, France, and shortly thereafter became part of the collection of Augustin Carlier (1732鈥�1818) of Bavay, Belgium, a renowned collector of antiquities. In 1833, Carlier鈥檚 collection was given to the city of Douai. The statuette, known as an Orator or 础苍迟颈苍辞眉蝉, was inventoried at the Douai Museum (now the Mus茅e de la Chartreuse) as early as 1849. On July 3, 1901, a theft occurred at the Museum and the statuette was taken. The thief was apprehended on July 30. He had in his possession other items from the Douai Museum and a list of the objects he had removed, including the 础苍迟颈苍辞眉蝉; however, the statuette was not recovered. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the work in 1904 from Boston collector Edward Perry Warren, without knowledge of its previous ownership. It is not known where or from whom Warren had acquired it.

The Museum had no further information about its provenance until 2011, when a routine request to borrow the statuette for an exhibition prompted a thorough investigation of the object鈥檚 ownership history. Upon learning that the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 statuette had once belonged to the museum in Douai and was considered lost, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 wrote to the Mus茅e de la Chartreuse notifying the staff there of the object鈥檚 presence in Boston. The Mus茅e de la Chartreuse furnished the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 with extensive documentation on the theft of 1901 and a 19th-century photograph showing the statuette in Douai. Identical areas of damage left little doubt that the object in question was the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 statuette. As a result, 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 Trustees voted in October 2012 to deaccession the figure for a return to Douai.

2011鈥�Weary Herakles (1981.783)

In September 2011, an agreement between the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 and the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey was signed, transferring ownership of the top half of the 2nd-century AD Roman Imperial marble sculpture Weary Herakles to the Turkish government. Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, and Murat Suslu, Director General for Cultural Heritage and Museums, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Museum, acknowledging that the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 acquired the object in good faith and without knowledge of any ownership or title issues, and providing for the transfer of the object, which took place after the signing.

2011鈥擡glon van der Neer, Portrait of a Man and Woman in an Interior (41.935)

In June 2011, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached a financial settlement with the heirs and the estate of Walter Westfeld for Eglon van der Neer鈥檚 Portrait of a Man and Woman in an Interior, allowing the painting to remain at the Museum. Walter Westfeld (b. 1889鈥揹. after 1942) operated an art gallery in Wuppertal, Germany, during the Nazi period. A 1935 decree from the Reichs Chamber of Fine Arts forbade him from working as a dealer because he was Jewish, and he was ordered to close the gallery in May of 1936. That month, an exhibition of works of art owned by Westfeld was held at the Galerie Kleucker in the nearby city of D眉sseldorf, including a Company Scene by Eglon van der Neer. This was almost certainly the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 painting. The paper trail ends there, and begins again five years later. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the painting from E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York, in December 1941. Silberman probably acquired the painting in the spring of that year, but it has not been ascertained from whom.

It is not known for certain how the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 Portrait of a Man and Woman in an Interior left Westfeld鈥檚 possession and made its way to the United States. Without further documentation, its exact provenance may never be known. However, it is difficult to imagine a scenario by which he sold the painting voluntarily in Nazi Germany, receiving proceeds over which he had free disposal.

In November 1938, Walter Westfeld was arrested for violating Germany鈥檚 foreign exchange laws. He spent the remaining years of his life in captivity and on January 23, 1943, was sent to his death at Auschwitz.

2011鈥擣辞耻谤 Tapestries from the Life of Urban VIII Series (50.3586, 50.3587, 51.2804, 52.262)

In March 2011, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 finalized a settlement with the heirs of Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, allowing the Museum to retain four seventeenth-century tapestries, which were included in a forced sale in Berlin in 1935. The four tapestries were part of a larger series that depicted the life and achievements of Pope Urban VIII. By 1928, eight tapestries from the series, including the four at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, were owned by the art dealer Margraf in Berlin. Margraf was run by Jakob Oppenheimer and his wife Rosa, who were Jewish. In 1933, the Oppenheimers fled Germany to avoid Nazi persecution and relocated to France. During their absence they were forced out of their management roles at Margraf and were forbidden from performing any legal transactions for the company.

As a well-known Jewish business, Margraf was extinguished as quickly as possible by the Nazi regime. The gallery stock was sold off rapidly in a series of auctions held in Berlin in 1935. The Oppenheimers were unable to realize the proceeds from these sales. Research conducted by the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 confirmed that the Museum鈥檚 four tapestries were sold to an unknown buyer at one of the 1935 auctions. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 contacted the Oppenheimer heirs in 2010 to inform them of their location at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, and to begin settlement discussions.

The tapestries have been at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 since the 1950s, and were gifts from Eugene Garb谩ty, a German Jewish art collector. Garb谩ty purchased six of the eight tapestries from an unknown dealer shortly after they sold at auction in 1935. He was told that they had come out of a castle in Austria, and was unaware that they had belonged to Margraf or been in a forced sale. Garb谩ty, himself a victim of Nazi persecution, brought four of the tapestries with him when he fled Germany for the United States in 1939; he gave them to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 between 1950 and 1952.

2010鈥�Entombment of Saint Vigilius (46.1198)

In the fall of 2010, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 returned to the Museo Diocesano Tridentino (Diocesan Museum of Trent, Italy) an embroidered panel, the Entombment of Saint Vigilius, dating from around 1390鈥�1391. The embroidery depicts the burial of Saint Vigilius (b. about 353鈥揹. 405), the third bishop and patron saint of Trent, and the delivery of the news of his martyrdom to the pope and Emperor Theodosius. The narrative cycle of the life of the saint was depicted on a number of embroidered panels, which were originally sewn onto the consecration vestments of George of Liechtenstein, appointed bishop prince of Trent in 1390.

In the early 20th century, the five embroideries that remained from the original cycle were housed in the Museo Diocesano Tridentino. The museum鈥檚 original location in the Theological Seminary was subsequently closed, and the embroideries were placed in the cathedral sacristy. There, presumably between 1939 and 1944, all trace was lost of the panel showing the burial of Vigilius and the announcement of his death.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the embroidery in 1946 from an Italian art dealer in New York without knowledge of its subject matter or provenance. Prior to the acquisition, 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 curators inquired about its history and were told only that its previous owner had inherited it along with a large collection of other antique objects. The Museum had no additional information about its provenance until 2008, when Dr. Evelin Wetter of the Abegg-Stiftung (Riggisberg, Switzerland) contacted the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, indicating that the panel was once part of the Saint Vigilius series from the Museo Diocesano Tridentino. Curatorial research by the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 confirmed that the embroidery belonged to that series. In June 2008, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 contacted the Museo Diocesano to initiate discussions about its return, which concluded in April 2010 with the signing of an agreement by the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, the Archdiocese of Trent, and the Museo Diocesano.

2007鈥擮skar Kokoschka, Two Nudes (Lovers) (1973.196)

In March 2007, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 received a restitution claim for Oskar Kokoschka鈥檚 Two Nudes (Lovers). Claudia Seger-Thomschitz, represented as the sole and unrelated heir of the last surviving son of Oskar Reichel, the painting鈥檚 former owner, asserted that Reichel was forced to sell Two Nudes (Lovers) under duress in Nazi-occupied Austria in 1939; later, her counsel asserted that the painting had been confiscated from Reichel by the Nazis. Upon receipt of the claim, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 conducted a comprehensive investigation of the painting鈥檚 provenance and concluded that it has legal title to the work. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 shared with the claimant鈥檚 counsel the results of its research. When the claim was not withdrawn, the Museum filed suit in January 2008 to confirm its ownership of the painting. In May 2009, U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel ruled that the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 is entitled to retain ownership of Two Nudes (Lovers). The First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this decision in October 2010.

2006鈥擨talian Antiquities

In September 2006, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 transferred 13 antiquities to Italy and signed an agreement with the Italian Ministry of Culture marking the beginning of a new era of cultural exchange:

Two-handled vessel (nestoris), about 420-410 BC (1971.49)
Lekythos, about 500-490 BC (1977.713)
Water jar (kalpis-hydria) depicting Apollo making a libation before gods and goddesses, about 485 BC (1978.45)
Two-handled jar (pelike) depicting Phineus with the sons of Boreas, about 450 BC (1979.40)
Statue of Sabina, about AD 136 (1979.556)
Water jar (hydria), about 530-520 BC (1979.614)
Vase for bath water (loutrophoros) depicting Pelops and Hippodameia in chariot, 320-310 BC (1988.431)
Mixing bowl (bell-krater), about 380-370 BC (1988.532)
Oil flask (lekythos), about 490 BC (1989.317)
Two-handled jar (amphora) depicting the murder of Atreus, about 340鈥�330 BC (1991.437)
Triangular support for a candelabrum shaft, decorative colonette, or small basin, AD 20-60 (1992.310)
Two-handled vessel (nestoris) depicting athletes in conversation with girls, late fifth century BC (1998.588)
Mixing bowl (bell-krater) with Thracian hunters, about 440-430 BC (1999.735)

The agreement includes the creation of a partnership in which the Italian government will loan significant works from Italy to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 displays and special exhibitions program, and establishes a process by which the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 and Italy will exchange information with respect to the Museum鈥檚 future acquisitions of Italian antiquities. The partnership also envisages collaboration in the areas of scholarship, conservation, archaeological investigation, and exhibition planning. Significant loans already have been made to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, including works in the exhibitions "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice" (2009) and "Aphrodite and the Gods of Love" (2011).

2006鈥擬eissen figure of Augustus III (never formally accessioned)

In 2006, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 received as part of a bequest an 18th-century Meissen figure of Augustus III, which it did not formally accession, or make part of the Museum collection. 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 curators had already recognized the object as coming from the famous Porzellansammlung (Porcelain Collection) of Dresden. Works of art from the Dresden museums had been put in storage during World War II, and the figure of Augustus III went missing during this time. The statue was returned to the Porzellansammlung in 2006.

2004鈥�Virgin and Child (1970.77)

In November 2004, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 deaccessioned the panel painting Virgin and Child for restitution to its owner, Anna Konopka Unrug of Poland. This was in response to the claim for the painting received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland on behalf of Unrug. The painting once formed the central panel of a triptych that belonged to Unrug鈥檚 grandfather, Tadeusz Konopka (b. 1844鈥揹. 1903), and was passed by descent to his son, J贸zef (b. 1884鈥揹. 1940) of Jaroslaw and Warsaw, who was killed in 1940. The painting remained in his Warsaw apartment, where his wife Helena (b. 1899) and daughter Anna (b. 1921) lived, and was plundered during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. It is not known when the triptych was separated; neither of the side panels has been located.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 purchased the painting in 1970 from a dealer in Frankfurt, Germany, without knowledge of its wartime or immediate postwar provenance. At that time it was attributed to the Master of the Saint Barbara Altar, a Silesian painter active in the 15th century. Research revealed that it had been in Tadeusz Konopka鈥檚 possession and remained in Poland during World War II. The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 posted this information on the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 website, which enabled the claimant, through the Polish Ambassador, to locate the painting.

2000鈥�Adoration of the Magi (1992.163)

In October 2000, the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 reached an agreement with the heirs of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe with respect to the painting Adoration of the Magi by Corrado Giaquinto. Its previous owner, Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, was a Jewish Italian businessman living in Paris. He died of natural causes in April 1940, leaving his estate to his children. With the fall of France to Hitler in June of that year, his family fled the country. German law forbade the return of those who had left occupied territory, so his family was unable to assert its claim to the works of art. A surrogate administrator was appointed to manage the family鈥檚 affairs and the art collection was auctioned in Paris in 1941. While the estate received the revenue from the sale, the family lost its ownership of the paintings.

In 1997, Gentili di Giuseppe鈥檚 heirs brought legal action against the Mus茅e du Louvre and the State of France to have the April 1941 sale declared null and void. In June 1999, the Court of Appeals of Paris nullified the sale, determining that Gentili di Giuseppe鈥檚 family had been prevented from attending to the administration of the estate. Five paintings held by the Louvre were subsequently returned to the family. By February 1999 the heirs had begun pursuing individual claims regarding the other paintings in the 1941 auction and contacted the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 about the Adoration of the Magi.

The 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 had purchased the painting in April 1992 from Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., a well-regarded firm of art dealers established in London in the early 19th century. The firm, in turn, had purchased the painting at Christie鈥檚, Monaco, in June 1990. Because the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 had purchased the painting before any claims were registered with the French government, the heirs recognized that the Museum acquired the work in good faith, without knowledge that the 1941 sale was problematic. The agreement reached with the heirs enabled the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 to acquire the Adoration of the Magi and keep it on display in its galleries.

1997鈥擲tatuette of Sucellus (1980.174)

A small Roman statue acquired by the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 in 1980 was discovered to be one of a group of eight bronzes stolen from the Mus茅e de Beaux-Arts et d鈥橝rcha茅ologie in Besan莽on (MBAA), France, in 1914. Upon making this discovery, the Museum contacted the French authorities. The bronze was deaccessioned in 1997 and returned to Besan莽on in 1999.

澳门六合彩开奖现场直播