[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Major Iranian Missile Impacts On Israel; IAEA Warns Radioactive Contamination Observed At Natanz

Israeli Strikes On Iran Ongoing Through Friday As Death Toll Surpasses 100

From Torah to trauma: A Satanic child abuse scandal blows up in Israel

MAGA Influencer Calls to Deploy Palantir on LA Streets

Egypt detains nearly 200 foreigners who flew in to join Gaza march

FLASHBACK - How Mayor Daley dealt with looters!

Scammers Use AI Bots to Impersonate Students, Stealing Millions in Financial Aid

Bilderberg 2025 begins. Global elites gather in Stockholm. AI, migration, and national security dominate

I Wish We All Could Leave California (Beach Boys Parody)

Exclusive: US slams UN conference on Israel-Palestinian issue, warns of consequences

Brilliant & Critical Insight!

Legal Immigrants Shift to GOP on Immigration, Shows 40-Point Swing from Democrats

American fuel tankers were spotted REFUELING ISRAELI JETS over Syria.

Does Western Civilization Have Enough Belief to Continue to Exist?

Trump CLEARLY KNEW of Israel's Plan To STRIKE IRAN

Trump Warns 'Even More Brutal' Attacks Coming Without Nuclear Deal

10 Supplements That Fight Inflammation

CNN Security Analyst Defends Agents Who Removed Senator Padilla From Kristi Noem Presser

Florida sheriff warns rioters: 'We will kill you graveyard dead'

DEMOCRATS' NIGHTMARE: Viral Video Shows Why They LOST The Election!

Israeli strikes on Iran. Five Waves. Might last 2 weeks?

Images Emerge Of Tehran Destruction After Major Israeli 'Preemptive Attack'

This Is What Happens Next After Israel Bombs Iran’s Nuclear Facilities…

Smartmatic accused of deleting evidence in 27 Billion Fox News Defamation Case Court Docs

White House Fears Iranian Response To An Attack Could Overwhelm Israel's Air Defenses

The Money and Power Behind the Riots: This is No Grass-Roots Movement

D.C. Judge Sides With Trump In Lawsuit Over Control Of Corrupt Foreign Aid Agency

Israel Iran Double Standard

Soros Funneled $8.3M into Leftist Group Trying to Turn Lone Star State Blue

California Democrats Under Fire for Buying Bricks During Protests


History
See other History Articles

Title: Reporter returns looted portrait
Source: BBC News
URL Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5037002.stm
Published: Jun 1, 2006
Author: BBC
Post Date: 2006-06-01 11:25:13 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 21

Reporter returns looted portrait
The 16th century portrait measures only 12cm by 16cm

Enlarge Image
BBC correspondent Charles Wheeler has returned a painting to a German museum after discovering it was looted during World War II.

Wheeler received the 16th Century portrait of Eleonora of Toledo as a gift from a German farmer in 1952.

He assumed it was a copy - but last year discovered the painting, by Florentine artist Alessandro Allori, was an original looted from Berlin.

He returned the painting to the city's Gemaldegalerie on Wednesday.

"I'm rather pleased about it all," Wheeler told the BBC News website. "Instead of sitting on my bookshelf all these years, it's going to be exhibited properly."

Wheeler is the BBC's longest-serving foreign correspondent, having joined the corporation in 1947.

He said it was a gift for my wedding - I told him I wasn't going to get married
Charles Wheeler
He was given the painting while working in the BBC's Berlin bureau in the 1950s.

"We used to get a lot of visitors from East Germany coming in to chat, and some of them began to work for us," said Wheeler.

"One of them was a peasant farmer from Frankfurt der Oder area and one day he simply handed me this brown envelope which contained the painting.

"He said it was a gift for my wedding. I told him I wasn't going to get married, but he said 'you will one day'."

Wheeler carried the painting with him for the next 50 years to assignments in Delhi, Washington and Brussels. Recently, it has been propped up on a bookshelf in his UK home.

BBC Correspondent Charles Wheeler
Charles Wheeler was given the painting in 1952
But last year, while reporting on missing art for the BBC Radio 4 series Coming Home, he decided to find out the origins of the portrait.

He took it to Anne Webber, co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, and asked if she could find out where it came from.

After hearing the story of how Wheeler had come by the painting, Webber sent photographs of the picture to galleries in Germany.

"The Gemaldegalerie immediately faxed back a black and white photograph of the painting from its records," said Wheeler.

"They had no idea where it had gone, if it had been destroyed or looted by a Russian soldier," added Ms Webber.

The Gemaldegalerie is Berlin's state museum. It is believed to have lost around 400 works of art during World War II.

(8 images)

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  



[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]