The Missing 300-Year-Old Baroque Painting During World War II Was Finally Returned To Germany

Almost 80 years ago the 300-year-old baroque painting that went missing during World War II was finally returned to Germany on Thursday.

The Missing 300-year-old Baroque Painting During World War II Was Finally Returned To Germany (PHOTO: Reddit)

Missing 300-Year-Old Baroque Painting

The baroque painting which is an artwork from the 18th-century Austrian artist Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer handed over by the FBI to a German museum representative in a brief ceremony at the German Consulate in Chicago, where the pastoral piece was displayed in the Italian countryside.

AP News reported that a company that focused on locating and recovering stolen and looted artwork known as Art Recovery International, tracked down the elusive baroque painting after a person in Chicago reached out last year claiming to possess a “stolen or looted painting” that their uncle brought back to America after serving in World War II.

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The Baroque Painting Is Missing Since 1945

The Baroque painting has been missing for  80 years since  1945 and was first reported stolen from the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich, Germany.

It was included in the database of the German Lost Art Foundation in 2012, according to a statement from the art recovery company.

Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International claimed that the crux of their work at Art Recovery International is the research and restitution of artworks looted by Nazis and discovered in public or private collections. Moreover, on some occasions, they also came across cases, like the allied soldiers may have taken objects home as souvenirs or as trophies of war.

The identity of the Chicago resident who had the painting was not shared. The person initially asked Marinello to be paid for the artwork.

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