A painting by Renaissance master El Greco has found itself at the center of a fierce ownership row between the Romanian state, a disputed prince and a Russian oligarch.
The latter, billionaire businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, currently owns the artwork, thought to be worth between US$7 million and US$9 million, and has been looking to sell it.
However, the 17th-century painting of Saint Sebastian, which shows the martyr’s body pierced by arrows, did not go on sale as planned earlier this year.
Photo: AFP
Instead, it has been stranded at Christie’s in New York until all the legal wrangling is resolved. The auction house canceled its planned bidding war for the El Greco in February “out of an abundance of caution” after the Romanian government laid claims to the piece, which it says belongs in its royal art collection.
Claiming to be the “rightful owner,” Romania has sued a company through which Rybolovlev acquired the painting in 2010, accusing the firm of not acting in good faith, according to documents reviewed by AFP.
On top of that, a third claim by a descendant of Romania’s royal family is being contested in the New York courts, with Prince Paul of Romania seeking to recover a work his father believed was stolen by the communists.
Romanian authorities assume that the painting remained in the country until 1947, but was then “unlawfully” taken by the former Romanian king Michael I on a trip to attend the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in London. In his complaint, Prince Paul, 76, also accuses Michael I of wrongdoing.
By loading the El Greco with “other valuable items into two boxcars of the Orient Express” and then hiding everything in the vaults of a Zurich bank, the former king practically “stole” the artwork, his nephew said. Paul of Romania — whose father was long regarded as an illegitimate son of King Carol II before being recognized — was never acknowledged as part of the royal family.
Holding British, French and Romanian citizenship, the disputed royal has taken refuge in France to escape justice in his home country, where he was sentenced to jail for influence peddling.
According to Rybolovlev’s company Accent Delight, the communists had authorized Michael I to take the painting with him “as incentive for abdicating the throne and leaving the country” without causing a stir, as they feared “public unrest because of his popularity.”
However, shortly after Michael I returned home, he was forced to abdicate and go into exile in late 1947. He would not set foot on Romanian soil again until 1997.
In the meantime, he sold the painting in 1975 to French art dealer Daniel Wildenstein, who later resold it. The piece changed hands a few times before being purchased in 2010 by the company of Rybolovlev, president of the AS Monaco soccer club.
The Romanian state had in the past attempted to recover Saint Sebastian alongside other items from the royal art collection, but its attempts so far have been fruitless. Yet, the government has vowed to continue its fight to reclaim the painting.
“If this unique, historically significant and irreplaceable painting is sold before Romania can have its ownership claims heard and adjudicated, it would cause immediate and irreparable harm to the State of Romania and its people,” Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote in a letter submitted to the New York court earlier this year.
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