Angelika Hellweger of Rahman Ravelli assesses the case
A UK woman is handing back a 16th-century painting to the Italian gallery it was stolen from more than half a century ago.
The painting, Madonna and Child by Italian artist Antonio Solario, is being returned to the Civic Museum in Belluno by Norfolk-based Barbara de Dozsa.
De Dozsa had initially refused to return the picture as her former husband, the late Baron de Dozsa, had bought it in good faith in Austria shortly after it was stolen. De Dozsa cited the UK's Limitation Act 1980, which states that an original owner's title to an artwork is extinguished six years after a good-faith purchaser acquires it. However, ultimately, she decided to return it to the museum after years of lobbying by art lawyer Christopher Marinello.
The painting had been on the most-wanted lists of various police forces, including Interpol, since being stolen in 1973. It was one of several pieces stolen from Belluno. Some were recovered in Austria shortly after the theft.
The whereabouts of Madonna and Child was not known until 2017, when de Dozsa tried to sell it through an auction house and it was recognised by someone with links to the Belluno museum. But it was returned to de Dozsa in 2020, as delays caused by the Covid pandemic led to the Italian authorities being unable to supply documents relating to it that British police had requested.
This case is a stark reminder of the need to carry out proper due diligence before buying art. This includes checking the various registers listing stolen art, such as Interpol's database of stolen artworks, the Art Loss Register, the FBI's National Stolen Art File and the Lost Art Database. Moreover, prospective buyers should be alerted if sellers are sharing questionable provenance evidence, like predecessors in title who cannot be disclosed due to privacy considerations or an unclear paper trail when it comes to the passing of the title in the past.
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