Nazi-Looted Renaissance Painting Found in Cerruti Collection, Restituted

A Renaissance painting by Jacopo del Sellaio, looted by Nazis from a Jewish family in Vienna, has been discovered in the Cerruti Collection at the Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea. The work, 'Madonna col Bambino, san Giovannino e due angeli' (1480-1485), was purchased by Gustav Arens in 1936 from Galerie Sanct Lucas in Vienna. After his death, it was inherited by his daughter Ann Arens Unger and seized by Nazis. The family fled to France and then the US; the painting was confiscated in Paris in 1942. It reappeared at Galerie Fischer in Lucerne in 1974 and at Christie's London in 1985. Francesco Federico Cerruti unknowingly bought it from an Italian dealer in 1987. In 2016, the Castello di Rivoli, which manages the Cerruti Collection, identified the painting's provenance. In 2018, the Fondazione Cerruti contacted the Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO) in New York, locating heirs Grete Unger Heinz, Karen Reeds, Andrea Meier, and Alan Meier. An agreement was reached: the painting remains in the Cerruti Collection and is now displayed at Villa Cerruti, with a financial settlement and a narrative of its history presented to visitors. Grete Unger Heinz expressed joy at seeing the painting again. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, director of Castello di Rivoli, stated the resolution compensates the heirs while preserving the work for public enjoyment.