Portrait of a Lady

For every Wednesday and Sunday during the past month, we have shown you works from the database of wartime cultural losses — lootedart.gov.pl, curated by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. This is the last one we will show you. As a result of World War II, Poland lost over 70% of its material cultural heritage. See you tomorrow! 

This portrait, painted in 1780 and thought to be of Yolande de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac, was acquired by the National Museum in Warsaw in 1937, according to the notation of L. Kalinowski. After the outbreak of World War II it was taken away by the Nazis and transported to Cracovian warehouses controlled by the Bureau of Special Representative for Inventory and Protection of Art Works and Culture Heritage, probably in the first transport of November 1939. It was later put at the disposal of the architect Franz Koettgen for placement in the residence of Hans Frank, Hitler's handpicked Governor-General of occupied Poland. The later history of the painting remains unknown.