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July 24, 2008 11:25:58 PM CDT

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Beloved Brit Painting Once Owned by Hitler

Posted Mar 28, 08 11:17 AM CDT in Arts & Living,  Crime & Courts,  World 

(Newser) – A nude painting of Venus on display in London's National Gallery for 45 years—one of the gallery's most popular works—turns out to have been once owned by Adolf Hitler. The whimsical Cupid Complaining to Venus, by German master Lucas Cranach, was given to Hitler by a prominent Nazi and hung in his apartment in Munich, the Guardian reports.

The painting may have been looted from a Jewish collector. It would have to be returned to the owners' heirs if they can be traced. The painting's grim provenance came to light recently when a scholar found a catalog of Hitler's private art collection in the National Archives in Washington.

Source Guardian (UK)

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Adolf Hitler's love of art is well known but his taste has been questioned. It has been revealed he once owned a painting that hangs in London's National Gallery and which may have been stolen from a...   (AP Photo)
'Cupid Complaining to Venus' by Lucas Cranach. It has been revealed the painting, in Britain's National gallery, was once owned by Adolf Hitler and may have been looted from a Jewish collector.   (AP Photo/The National Gallery, London, HO)
The National Gallery in London. One of its most popular paintings was once owned by Hitler and may have been stolen from a Jewish collector in the Thirties.   (Getty Images)
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London  • art  • Adolf Hitler  • National Archives  • National Gallery


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