Eike Schmidt, the Director of the Gallerie degli Uffizi said: “Return the painting stolen by the Nazis.” The famous Vaso di Fiori (Vase of Flowers) painted by Dutch artist Jan van Huysum was stolen by Nazi soldiers during World War Two from the art gallery in Florence. It was believed to have been lost until it remerged in 1991 after the reunification of Germany in the hands of a Germany family.
Since then, Italian authorities have asked for the painting back and the demands have escalated to offering a ransom and the prosecutors in Florence have opened an investigation.
The painting belongs to the Italian state and can never be sold, as reported by il Fatto Quotidiano.
The artwork belongs to the collections of Palazzo Pitti since 1824, when it was bought by the Lorraine Grand Duke Leopold II for the newly founded Galleria Palatina.
The Palazzo Pitti is one of the museums part of the Uffizi Galleries in Florence.
It was evacuated in 1940 and the painting was brought to the Medici villa of Poggio a Caiano for safekeeping.
In 1943 it was moved to the Bossi Pucci villa and the retreating German army took the safety box it was in to Castel Giovio, in the province of Bolzano where it was opened and found to be stolen.
Mr Schmidt has appealed for Germany to return the painting.
He said: “An appeal to Germany for 2019: we hope that in the course of this year the famous ‘Vaso di Fiori’ (Vase of Flowers) of the Dutch painter Jan van Huysum, stolen by Nazi soldiers during WWII, can finally be returned to the Gallerie degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery) in Florence, currently, in the hands of a German family that, after all this time, has not yet returned it to the museum, despite numerous requests from the Italian State.”
He also said that the wounds from the war are still not healed.
He added: “Because of this affair that affects the heritage of the Uffizi Gallery, the wounds of the Second World War and Nazi terror are not yet healed.
“Germany should abolish the prescription for works stolen during the conflict and make sure that they can return to their legitimate owners.
“For Germany there is still a moral duty to return this work to our museum: and I hope that the German state can do it as soon as possible, together, obviously, with every work of art looted by the Nazi army”.
At the moment a black and white reproduction of the painting is symbolically exhibited in the Sala dei Putti at Palazzo Pitti with a caption explaining that it is stolen.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.