Nazi soldier’s descendants return stolen painting to Florence gallery

A celebrated still-life painted a Dutch master and looted by Nazi troops in World War II will be returned to the Italian city of Florence, Italy’s government said.

The oil painting Vase of Flowers by Jan van Huysum – believed to be worth millions of dollars – originally went on display in Florence in 1824 after it was bought by Grande Duke Leopoldo II for his collection.

The painting was seized by Nazi troops in 1943 and eventually taken to Germany where it resurfaced in a family collection following German reunification in 1991.

Its imminent return to Italy follows a long dispute with the unidentified descendants of the Nazi soldier, who had reportedly demanded up to €2m (£1.8m) for the artwork.

The German government stepped in to forge an agreement for its return to Florence, according to the Die Zeit newspaper, but it was not immediately clear whether the family would be compensated financially.

“At long last (the artwork) comes home after 75 years. The battle was tough, today is a great victory for the whole of Italy,” said Eike Schmidt, head of Italy’s Uffizi Gallery.

Schmidt, himself a German citizen, has called for the return of the artwork to Florence, saying the country had a “moral duty” to give it back.

A statement posted on the Italian foreign ministry’s website said the foreign ministers of Italy and Germany would travel to Florence for the painting’s official handover.

All efforts to get it back via legal channels had, to date, failed, with the German government previously claiming it could not intervene in the matter.

German government lawyers are believed to have argued the painting was not looted as part of organised Nazi requisitioning effort, but had simply been stolen by the solider who did not have the right to hand it over to his descendants.

A black and white photo of the painting has been hanging in the Uffizi Gallery alongside the word “stolen” in English, German and Italian.

The painting had originally hung in Florence’s Pitti Palace from 1824 until 1940, when it was evacuated to a nearby village following the outbreak of war.

Additional reporting by agencies