Art News. Vasari Codex

gavel restitution schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 15 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

Tiny Cranach Painting That Vanished During WWII Returns to Dresden

A miniature portrait of Friedrich III (Frederick the Wise) by Lucas Cranach the Elder, missing since World War II, has been returned to the State Art Collections of Dresden, Germany. The painting was last documented in May 1945 in a limestone quarry shelter near Pockau-Lengefeld before vanishing. It resurfaced in 2024 when consigned to Parisian auction house Artcurial, whose provenance investigation revealed a matching inventory number from 1722–1728. The Dreyfus family in France, the modern owners, returned the work after negotiations and a financial agreement. It is now on view at the Coin Cabinet of the Royal Palace in a special exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Friedrich III's death, and will later be permanently displayed in the Semper Gallery.

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gavel restitution schedule Feb 2, 2026 visibility 18 link 4 artists, 1 gallery

Dürer ‘copy’ at London’s National Gallery is the real thing, expert claims

A German scholar, Christof Metzger, has published a new catalogue raisonné claiming that a portrait of Albrecht Dürer's father held by London's National Gallery is an authentic work by the master, painted in 1497. This directly challenges the gallery's long-standing position that the painting is a later copy made after a lost original.

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gavel restitution schedule Mar 19, 2026 visibility 13 link 1 artist

Lost Parthenon Piece Unearthed From Lord Elgin’s Shipwreck

A small marble fragment from the Parthenon has been recovered from the wreck of the Mentor, a ship owned by Lord Elgin that sank in 1802 while transporting sculptures from the Acropolis to Britain. The fragment, discovered off the Greek island of Kythira by the Greek Ministry of Culture's underwater antiquities unit, is a decorative gutta likely from the temple's entablature or roof edge.

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gavel restitution schedule Sep 18, 2025 visibility 13 link 1 artist

maine museum return funerary objects wabanaki nations

The Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, is repatriating 17 items—including a human tooth and funerary objects such as tools, animal hides, and fabric—to the Wabanaki Nations, a confederation of four local tribes (Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Mi’kmaq Nation, and Houlton band of Maliseet Indians). The objects, many excavated by Warren K. Moorehead in the late 19th century, passed through the R.S. Peabody Museum, the Bangor Historical Society, and the Abbe Museum, with some lost due to undocumented loans. A Field Register notice from the National Park Service, published September 11, 2025, details their complex provenance. The repatriation is set to occur on or after October 14, 2025.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 18, 2025 visibility 15 link 4 artists

bayeux tapestry fragment rediscovered in germany

A long-lost fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century embroidered chronicle of the Norman Conquest of England, has been rediscovered in the Schleswig-Holstein State Archives in Schleswig, Germany. The roughly one-inch linen piece belonged to the estate of archaeologist Karl Schlabow, who had been part of a Nazi-affiliated group that re-measured the tapestry in 1941. The fragment will be repatriated to France later this year, but first it will go on public display at the Museum of Archaeology at Gottorf Castle as part of the exhibition “Viking Twilight: Turning Point in the North” from April 16 through November 2.

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gavel restitution schedule Jan 23, 2026 visibility 14 link 4 artists

gelman collection of mexican art surfaces at santander with plans to bring it to spain

Banco Santander has announced it will manage roughly half of the Gelman Collection, one of the most significant collections of 20th-century Mexican art, which disappeared from public view in 2008. The Madrid-based bank now oversees 160 of approximately 300 works amassed by patrons Jacques and Natasha Gelman. The collection will anchor the new Faro Santander cultural center in Spain, set to open in June, through a long-term loan agreement with the Zambrano family, the prominent Mexican business family revealed to own the once-lost collection. The collection's whereabouts had been largely unknown, with only sporadic sightings in foreign institutions, after it was divided by executor Robert R. Littman despite the will's stipulation that it be shown intact in a private museum in Mexico.

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gavel restitution schedule May 11, 2026 visibility 16 link 1 artist

In This Nazi-Era Restitution Dispute, the Focus Turns to a Missing Cow

A family is seeking restitution of a painting they believe is a lost Rubens work, looted by Nazis during World War II. However, an expert has cast doubt on the claim, arguing the painting is a copy because it lacks a distinctive detail found in the original: a urinating cow. The dispute has shifted focus to this missing element, complicating the family's efforts to recover the artwork.

newspaper New York Times Art open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Sep 3, 2025 visibility 14 link 1 artist

nazi looted painting argentina recovery

Argentine authorities believe they have recovered a Nazi-looted painting by Italian Baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, which appeared in a real estate listing for a home in Mar del Plata. The home belongs to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi official, who initially faced accusations of obstructing the investigation but later turned over the painting to the Civil Court. The work was once owned by Jewish dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who fled Amsterdam during the Nazi rise and died shortly after; it is listed as missing in a registry of lost art.

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gavel restitution schedule Apr 29, 2026 visibility 18 link 3 artists

Une souscription pour la Maison-atelier Lurçat

The Académie des beaux-arts has launched a subscription campaign to acquire a monumental tapestry by Jean Lurçat, recently rediscovered by Christie's. The tapestry, titled *Bestiaire* (1930), measures 3 by 6.45 meters and was originally created for the artist's home-studio in Paris's 14th arrondissement. It will be publicly unveiled at Christie's Paris on May 6–7, 2025, before a private sale between the Académie and the auction house for €110,000. Donations are being collected online or by check to fund the purchase.

newspaper La Tribune de l Art open_in_new Read original

gavel restitution schedule Dec 17, 2025 visibility 10

pompeii hercules fresco location

Archaeologists have identified the original location of a looted fresco fragment from Pompeii that was repatriated from the U.S. to Italy in 2023. The fragment, depicting baby Hercules wrestling a snake, was found to have once decorated the upper lunette of a private chapel (sacellum) at the ancient villa of Civita Giuliana. The discovery was made during excavations in 2023 and 2024, and the fragment will be exhibited at the Antiquarium of Boscoreale from mid-January.

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