Italian masterpiece returned to Jewish man's heirs

THE TELEGRAPH

"Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue"
is believed to date from 1538  Photo: REUTERS/Philip Sears

FLORIDA - A grandson of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe listened in via teleconference from London as American authorities signed the documents transferring over the Baroque painting titled "Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rogue." Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, an Italian of Jewish descent, purchased the painting by Girolamo Romano, an artist also known as Romanino, at a 1914 auction in Paris. [link]

The work is believed to have been among more than 70 paintings from Gentili di Giuseppe's collection auctioned by the French Vichy government in 1941, court records indicate. But members of the family who fled the occupation have said the sale was illegal and had sought the painting's return. The family announced that Christie's would sell the painting at an auction this June, saying the art house has estimated it could fetch as much as $3.5 million.