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Bust of Isabella d'Este
In 2011, the Monuments Men Foundation discovered a photograph that suggested a rare terracotta portrait bust, owned by the Kimbell Art Museum, had been acquired by the Nazis and was in all likelihood, destined to become part of Hitler’s collection in the Führermuseum.
Discovery and Research
The discovery of the photograph of the bust sparked further investigation into the workʼs provenance.
The Monuments Men found this work among thousands of others in the Alt Aussee salt mine during the closing days of the war. The Foundation worked with Dr. Eric Lee, Director of the Kimbell Art Museum, and Nancy Edwards, the Kimbell’s Curator of European Art and Head of Academic Services, to affirm its ownership of the bust and clarify the provenance.
"We were intrigued but also apprehensive to discover that our sculpture was among the looted items in the salt mine,” commented Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. “The Museum has a policy of returning works of art if it is learned that they were improperly sold or looted in continental Europe during the Nazi era, and I was relieved to learn that the Kimbell would not have to do so in this case, since there was documentation to prove that the work had been properly purchased."
Nancy Edwards, the Kimbellʼs Curator of European Art and Head of Academic Services conducted research at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. She discovered that the bust was included in the 1941 sale to Hitler and then taken to the salt mine for safekeeping. Five years after the Lanz collection, of which the Bust was a part of, returned to the Netherlands, some items thought at the time to be of lesser importance were auctioned, and the family was able to buy a number of them back. Otto Lanzʼs daughter, Anna Gertud Lanz Kijzer, purchased the bust as a gift to her brother Dr. A. B. Lanz. Because the bustʼs authenticity had long been questioned, Kijzer was able to purchase it for only 35 guilders (approximately $10).
In 1973, John Pope-Hennessey wrote a letter to Dr. A. B. Lanz attributing the work to Gian Cristoforo Romano and expressing an interest in purchasing it for the Victoria and Albert Museum. A 1973 thermoluminescence (carbon test) report conducted at Oxford University
established a bracket date of c. 1408–1538 for the firing of the terracotta, affirming its creation during the Renaissance period. It was sold to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Lugano, Switzerland, that same year. In 2002, the work was purchased by the London dealer Daniel Katz, who sold it to the Kimbell in 2004.
The Kimbell Art Museum once again handled a Nazi-era provenance case in the most exemplary manner.
Restitution
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10th Anniversary Celebration
Spearheaded by an idea of Vincenza Iossa, librarian at the Luigi De Gregori Library of the Ministry of Education in Rome and member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, and made possible by the small but gritty association “Amici del libro” (Friends of the Book), on February 18, 2023 the community of Minturno and some special guests from abroad, gathered in that same Church of San Francesco in Minturno, which eighty years before had been directly in the path of the US liberating forces.
Speakers included Mr. Andrea Paoli, a historian who provided attendees with the historical context of what happened to Italy’s archival collections and libraries during World War II, with emphasis on how they were saved and by whom. Ms. Maria Lucia Siragusa, director of the University Library of Naples, shared her extensive knowledge about the historical significance of the eight volumes and also about the exceptional protective measures implemented by the University Library of Naples during World War II. Ms. Iossa brought the attention to contemporary matters and the challenges faced by libraries today to remain relevant. Foundation president Anna Bottinelli was in attendance and delved into the restitution work of the Foundation.
The guest of honor for the evening was Mr. Jeff Tross, son of Pvt Irving Tross, who with his wife Linda, flew all the way from Salem, Oregon, to honor his father’s memory. Mr. Tross, who carried his father’s dog tags to the event, grew up loving those books, flipping through their pages, admiring their old scripts and illustrations.
In honor of this celebration, movie director Luca Gianfrancesco, in collaboration with the University Library of Naples, realized a beautiful short documentary.
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Our team receives leads of works of art on a daily basis and is committed to researching each one of them. Research can be very time consuming and expensive. Financial support can contribute to aiding professionals to our experienced team as well as off-set the costs involved with restitutions.