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"An old man hugs the maid in the stable" by David Teniers the Younger: The suspect has already been investigated in Italy
Photo:
Klut, Estel / Dresden State Art Collections
After more than 70 years, a work of art lost in World War II has been returned to the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD).
The Dresden public prosecutor had learned that the painting "An old man hugs the maid in the stable" by David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) had been secured in Naples, as they announced.
She therefore submitted a request for legal assistance to the Naples public prosecutor's office and received the picture back with the support of the Saxon Ministry of Justice and the SKD.
According to reports, the picture was lost during the war and ended up in the hands of an art dealer.
He offered the painting to the SKD in 2014, claiming that he was only an intermediary for a seller.
The State Art Collections then filed a complaint on suspicion of receiving stolen goods.
The accused art dealer took the picture from an unknown person and at least accepted the fact that it was a war loss, so the reasoning.
Because the reported crime in Germany was already statute-barred, the German authorities stopped the investigation and handed it over to the prosecutors in Naples.
According to the SKD, the man had also been under investigation there for a long time.
ime/dpa/AFP
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