The painting by Aleksander Gierymski, “The bust of a man in a renaissance outfit”, which was lost in the second world war has been recovered. This yet another piece which has been found thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The official handing over of the painting to the National Museum in Warsaw - with Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski in attendance - took place on 7th May 2014.

The painting was bought in 1892 at an exhibition of the  Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Warsaw by Henryk Dziewulski. Then it ended up in the collection of Maria Reicherowa, who, in September 1939, deposited her collection in the National Museum in Warsaw. The deposit was given the occupation code-name “C”. Gierymski’s painting received the number “C17”, which was painted on the back in red ink or paint. This signage enabled the National Museum in Warsaw specialists to confirm the final identification of the painting.

The wartime fortunes of the painting are not clear. it is known that in December 1943 it was still in a crate, numbered M.D.2. The looting of the piece probably happened not long after this, as in April 1944, judging from the notes of Bohdan Marconi, the painting appeared at an antiques market in Warsaw. It is known that the occupation administrative workers, apart from documented “borrowing” didn’t hold back from trading in illegally appropriated works of art, including those from museum storage.

After the war the painting was acknowledged as a wartime loss and registered with the number 6722, in the database of cultural goods which had been lost as a result of World War Two and published on the Ministry of Culture and National heritage website and in the catalogue of Polish artwork lost in the war.

Unexpectedly, in 2013, the painting was found in a private collection. As a result of conversations led by the Culture Ministry, the owner decided to convey the picture to the National Museum in Warsaw.