Elbiezta Rogowska, Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Polish Ministry of Culture, included in her thesis the paintings La Dolorosa and Ecce Homo, which were found to be from Nazi plunder and were restored yesterday, among the funds of the Pontevedra Museum after decades. to the Central European state. She had seen Diptych only as black and white images, and she did not hide her feelings as the artifacts were deposited in their new destination, the National Museum in Poznan.
“The first work to come out of Spain”He announced it minutes after signing the law, which completed the free extradition, with César Mosquera, the vice-president of the Provincial Assembly and head of the Museum. “It was found in the first plundered lands in Poland. Spain and it’s back, so it’s been a unique, unprecedented and very exceptional case for us.”.
According to the estimates of the Polish government, As many as 516,000 works of art were lost during the Nazi systematic looting of churches, museums and private collections., to the point where the country lost 70% of its national heritage. Mostly II. loss”, explained the representative of the Polish Government.
The return of a looted artifact, remember, “A long and arduous process that usually takes years”.
Meanwhile, your country There are about 230 files in the ongoing recovery process, although none of them are in Spain., and “thanks to new technologies we can find artifacts on all continents,” he said. Museums or collectors are often not willing to repair a historical injustice, so Elbiezta Rogowska was particularly grateful to the point of commendation that “it was different in this case, the recovery of this diptych was the opposite.” An “exemplary procedure” that sets an example for other museums and institutions around the world.
“Local, provincial and state officials, as well as those in charge of the museum, set the standards very high.. It’s like following that model, very professional”.
Provincial vice president Special guest Carmela Silva at the official handover ceremony with Miguel Fernández Lores, mayor of Pontevedra. “Today we are experiencing something unique that has made the Museum a worldwide reference, as as soon as the Polish Government contacted them to inform them that it believed this institution had two looted paintings, an immediate procedure was initiated to return them to the rightful owner. He was convinced that “from now on it will be very difficult”.” that other institutions are not following the trend of returning stolen goods.
“The world must learn: Words alone are not enough to return what has been plundered to a people.He underlined the provincial executive chairman before thanking the “sensitivity” of César Mosquera and Museum director Xosé Manuel Rey.
Artifacts are transported by road in museum-quality boxes with reinforced wood, rigid foam and inert paper that guarantee protection. After the export permit and transfer protocols given by the Cultural Heritage Directorate of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, we were diptych.
How will they be received? Elbiezta Rogowska explains that “the return of any stolen artifacts looted in Poland during World War II is a celebration, even at the media level.”. After being temporarily placed in the National Museum of Poznan, the guess is that they will be transported from where they were taken to Goluchow castleafter the rehabilitation of this Renaissance castle was completed.
In this castle for years Polish leader, some black and white photos have appeared where these pictures were hung and now they will finally be back in place.”.
The owner and director of the museum recalled that in 2020, in total isolation, he received a communication from the Polish Government stating that he believed the funds contained two artifacts looted from the Polish family. The institution went into action yesterday from “confusion and shock”. He insisted The aims were to guarantee both the Museum’s good reputation and its fair return. César Mosquera acknowledged that a life in which he earned thousands was “one of the most exciting signings”, and the institution acknowledged yesterday that “it is with regret that we see things turn out”. but with the pleasure of going to another museum “even if it is thousands of kilometers away”.
Same collection as The Lady with an Ermine
The works returned to the Polish state were originally attributed to the Flemish painter Dieric Bouts and were created during World War II. It is a 15th-century diptych listed in international databases of pieces looted in World War II.
They are now considered a reproduction of 16th century measurements from his son Albert’s workshop and were included in the Museum’s collections in 1981 as the relic of one of the institution’s benefactors, José Fernández López, who would receive them from the mid-70s. in Madrid or Barcelona.
They belonged to the Czartoryski collection (of which Da Vinci’s masterpieces such as The Lady with the Ermine were a part) and were worth around 30,000 euros.
Source: Informacion
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.