Claim Resolution

Resolution: Agreement reached, museum retained work

Resolution Date: 1994

Provenance: Prince Marc Antonio Borghese, Rome (1872-91; sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, July 2-3, 1891, lot 124, to Fauchez); Édouard Aynard, Lyon (until 1913; sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 1-4, 1913, lot 63); Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, Paris (by 1917-d., 1940; collection sold, Hotel Drouot, Paris, April 23-24, 1941, lot 61); French and Company, New York (in 1994; sold to Princeton University Art Museum). The importance of provenance research at the Museum was made clear when it was discovered that Saint Bartholomew by Bernardino Pinturicchio, once the property of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, a Jewish resident of German-occupied France, was auctioned with his estate in 1941 without the assent of his family. The Saint Bartholomew had been purchased in 1994 through the New York dealer French & Company, Inc. In the 1990s, the Gentili di Giuseppe family began to pursue claims regarding the works sold in 1941 and contacted the Princeton University Art Museum regarding the Saint Bartholomew at that time. Acknowledging that the Museum had bought the painting in good faith, the Gentili di Giuseppe heirs wished to leave the painting in the collection. Following discussions between the Art Museum and the heirs, compensation was paid for their loss at an agreed-upon amount.