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Nazi-Looted Painting From World War II Returns to Poland From Japan
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A partial view of Madonna with Child by Alessandro Turchi. Photo: Polish Ministry of Culture via Wikimedia Commons
A painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II that was found in Japan was returned to Poland during a ceremony at its Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage announced.
Madonna with Child by Italian artist Alessandro Turchi dates back to the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century. It was identified at an auction in Tokyo in January 2022 by experts of the Polish ministry’s Department of Restitution of Cultural Property. The painting was returned to Poland as part of an agreement between the country’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Japanese auction house Mainichi Auction Inc. Polish Culture Minister Piotr Glinski said the auction house, after learning about the provenance of the work, in consultation with the owner of the painting returned the work at no cost.
Madonna with Child is the first Polish item lost in World War II that was discovered in the Far East.
Glinski said the painting was on a list formed by the Nazis of the 521 most valuable pieces of art that they looted while occupying Poland. According to the ministry, it was stolen by the Nazis in 1940 then likely transported to Germany before it appeared at an auction in New York and then went to Japan. Some of the items on the Nazi list have been returned to Poland but many items have yet to be found.
Madonna with Child previously belonged to Polish aristocrat Henryk Lubomirski. At the outbreak of World War II, the painting was in the Lubomirski Palace in Przeworsk, which was then under German occupation.
Before that it was owned by Stanisław Kostka Potocki, who “most likely purchased the painting during one of his numerous trips to Italy between 1772 and 1797,” according to Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
