31.03.2022
“Florentine” recovered
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The lost painting “Florentine”, stolen by the Germans at the end of World War II, was secured by the police in one of the Warsaw’s auction houses. The work of the Polish painter Edward Okuń was valued at over one million zlotys. The painting was secured by employees of the National Museum in Warsaw, where it was transported and, under appropriate conditions, will be stored until the end of the investigation. “Florentine” has been on the list of lost works for years. If the painting were now auctioned, it could “disappear” from the market forever.
Edward Okuń, a somewhat forgotten painter today, worked at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. His works enjoyed great popularity at the time. They were often exhibited and bought by collectors for large sums of money. Okuń painted a “Florentine” in 1910. He himself carved a rich wooden frame, emphasizing the Renaissance style of the composition. In 1911, the Warsaw collector Andrzej Rotwand bought “Florentine” from an exhibition at the Warsaw Zachęta. He was the owner of the painting until 1931. Most likely, during the Nazi occupation, the work was stolen from one of the galleries in Warsaw.
The actual name of the painting is “Donzella”, which stands for “lady miss” in Italian.
In the Middle Ages, young, unmarried women from the aristocracy were called like this. The painting by Okuń presents the painter’s wife, Zofia Okuniowa, as Compiuta Donzella, an Italian poet who lived in Florence in the 13th century. She was also called the Florentine – hence the second name of the painting.
We may see Edward Okuń’s “Donzella” someday at an exhibition at the National Museum. But before that happens, the police will establish how the person who put the painting up for sale came into possession of it.
photo source: Policja.pl