When Hitler dreamed “The Füher Museum” which designed to build in his hometown Linz in Austria. Hitler focused stealing the greatest artworks of Western European civilization was to be the symbol of the Third Reich. When the Spanish Civil War began, which was to become a testing ground for the latest models of weaponry produced the supporters of each side. The French began immediately to plan the detail of the preparation of the evacuation including the surveyed the Chateaux, abbeys and churches suitable for storage, and evacuation routes were carefully planned. The Director of the French National Museums, Jacque Jaujard ordered the protection of thousands of French owned works of arts. the Mona Lisa left Louvre quickly on August 28 1939 to Chateau Chambord. Another paintings such as Gericault’s The Raft of Medusa was struggled to carry out because of the size and almost fragile. The Mona Lisa and other paintings traveled France for six times to return Paris in 1945. The Louvre was completely empty on 4th September in 1939, next day of the war declared. There is no important paintings or pieces of sculpture belonging to public museums in France were missing.
The Bamiyan Buddhas, constructed as early as the 2nd century AD, were once the largest standing buddhas in the world. Part of a rock-cut Buddhist monastery located in Afghanistan in the Bamiyan Valley. In early 2001, the Buddhas were destroyed with dynamite by order of the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. Since their destruction, successful efforts have been made to strengthen the cliffs which were previously in danger of falling. Due to the enormity of the project, further reconstruction has been next to impossible until recent years. Today, the reconstruction efforts include the use of technology. In 2015, a Chinese couple gave the Afghan people of the area a device that allows them to project 3-D images of the Buddhas into their original resting place. This technology is a viable solution for reconstructing and remembering the Bamiyan Buddhas.
As Adolf Hitler set out to conquer the world, he also envisioned building a museum that would house the finest art collection in the world. As he invaded cities and countries he looted art from museums, particularly art that had Germanic ancestry. The art was hidden in caves, monasteries and houses and it was not until the Allied forces entered Germany and its conquered territories that the extend of the plunder would be known. One of the groups that set out to restore this art was the Monuments men that formed part of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program. The mission of the MFAA was to find and protect the cultural heritage of Allied nations but also of Germany. Many art pieces were discovered in salt mines such as the Altausee, in the Austrian Alps. The discovery of this mine was a turning point for the MFAA. In this mine, the Nazis had hidden masterpieces by Michelangelo, Vermeer, and Jan van Eyck, and thousands of other works of art and culturally significant items looted from other collections
Iraq is a highly diverse country consisting of various ethnicities and cultures. There is a very small minority (0.8% to be precise) of Christians in Iraq (with various different ethnic names) and because they are the minority, and several other reasons, they are major targets of persecution by ISIS. Their churches, holy sites, and even archeological/ Biblical heritage sites are either bombed, destroyed, or looted. Despite the difficulty in discussing a topic that is so fluid and changes every day, it is important to stay informed. As of now, there used to be 1.5 million Christians in all of Iraq and has now shot down to around 300,000 and in the past two years, there has been at least 100 churches destroyed by ISIS. UNESCO and other agencies have been present during the fight against ISIS, but there has been issues within all of it because human lives verses churches and other ancient objects seem to be problematic to compare. However, churches and holy objects like Jonah’s tomb for example, are core in the identities of the Iraqi Christians memory, history, religion and culture. The attack is on not only their physical bodies, but their spirits and souls.
Napoleon not only rose to authority quickly, he dominated the European continent in almost no time at all. His motive was purely political and his status meant more to him than anything else. To aide his status, Napoleon looted thousands of artworks over his decade of global rule, including priceless works from Egypt and the Vatican. All of these were sent back to Paris for the emperor’s own museum which bore his name, later becoming The Louvre. For Napoleon, though, it was never about the beauty or transformative qualities of the art; it was only ever about power.
To accompany his empire, Napoleon set out to construction a museum bearing his name. To fill this museum, Napoleon and his men took paintings, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts from the nations that he conquered. Each wok that was taken has its own story, some ending in the return to its original home, and others remaining at the Louvre. My paper discusses the looting of Venice, specifically the Wedding at Cana, by Paolo Veronese, the largest painting in the Louvre today. In 2006, an agreement was reached and a facsimile was made to take the place of wear the painting was originally located in the Benedictine refectory of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
The Bamiyan Buddhas are situated in the area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley. In March 2001, the two Bamiyan Buddhas, one 55m and the other 37m tall, were destroyed by the Taliban, a group of conservative Pashtuns lead by Mullah Mohammad Omar. Since the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, there has been much debate on whether or not to reconstruct them. Since the Taliban had religious, economic, and political reasons for destroying the Buddhas, there has been historical and economical, along with the limitation of original materials and the presence of locals, as reasons for why the remains should be preserved and not reconstructed.
The Nazi’s stole hundreds of thousands of art works during their rampage across Europe. Over the past 7 decades, survivors and their heirs have struggled against many obstacles to restitution to include poor provenance and the cost of litigation. In recent years, the United States has led the way in efforts to improve cooperation between nations that may have some of the art in their museums. The Washington Conference in 1998 set forth Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Att. As recently as December 2016, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 was enacted to provide federal guidelines for the statute of limitations and override the variations from state to state. Hopefully with improved and shared databases, global cooperation and the drive to do the right thing, once and for all, processes will improve for those heirs attempting to be reunited with art that previously belonged to a family member.
When Hitler dreamed “The Füher Museum” which designed to build in his hometown Linz in Austria. Hitler focused stealing the greatest artworks of Western European civilization was to be the symbol of the Third Reich. When the Spanish Civil War began, which was to become a testing ground for the latest models of weaponry produced the supporters of each side. The French began immediately to plan the detail of the preparation of the evacuation including the surveyed the Chateaux, abbeys and churches suitable for storage, and evacuation routes were carefully planned. The Director of the French National Museums, Jacque Jaujard ordered the protection of thousands of French owned works of arts. the Mona Lisa left Louvre quickly on August 28 1939 to Chateau Chambord. Another paintings such as Gericault’s The Raft of Medusa was struggled to carry out because of the size and almost fragile. The Mona Lisa and other paintings traveled France for six times to return Paris in 1945. The Louvre was completely empty on 4th September in 1939, next day of the war declared. There is no important paintings or pieces of sculpture belonging to public museums in France were missing.
The Bamiyan Buddhas, constructed as early as the 2nd century AD, were once the largest standing buddhas in the world. Part of a rock-cut Buddhist monastery located in Afghanistan in the Bamiyan Valley. In early 2001, the Buddhas were destroyed with dynamite by order of the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. Since their destruction, successful efforts have been made to strengthen the cliffs which were previously in danger of falling. Due to the enormity of the project, further reconstruction has been next to impossible until recent years. Today, the reconstruction efforts include the use of technology. In 2015, a Chinese couple gave the Afghan people of the area a device that allows them to project 3-D images of the Buddhas into their original resting place. This technology is a viable solution for reconstructing and remembering the Bamiyan Buddhas.
As Adolf Hitler set out to conquer the world, he also envisioned building a museum that would house the finest art collection in the world. As he invaded cities and countries he looted art from museums, particularly art that had Germanic ancestry. The art was hidden in caves, monasteries and houses and it was not until the Allied forces entered Germany and its conquered territories that the extend of the plunder would be known. One of the groups that set out to restore this art was the Monuments men that formed part of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program. The mission of the MFAA was to find and protect the cultural heritage of Allied nations but also of Germany. Many art pieces were discovered in salt mines such as the Altausee, in the Austrian Alps. The discovery of this mine was a turning point for the MFAA. In this mine, the Nazis had hidden masterpieces by Michelangelo, Vermeer, and Jan van Eyck, and thousands of other works of art and culturally significant items looted from other collections
Iraq is a highly diverse country consisting of various ethnicities and cultures. There is a very small minority (0.8% to be precise) of Christians in Iraq (with various different ethnic names) and because they are the minority, and several other reasons, they are major targets of persecution by ISIS. Their churches, holy sites, and even archeological/ Biblical heritage sites are either bombed, destroyed, or looted. Despite the difficulty in discussing a topic that is so fluid and changes every day, it is important to stay informed. As of now, there used to be 1.5 million Christians in all of Iraq and has now shot down to around 300,000 and in the past two years, there has been at least 100 churches destroyed by ISIS. UNESCO and other agencies have been present during the fight against ISIS, but there has been issues within all of it because human lives verses churches and other ancient objects seem to be problematic to compare. However, churches and holy objects like Jonah’s tomb for example, are core in the identities of the Iraqi Christians memory, history, religion and culture. The attack is on not only their physical bodies, but their spirits and souls.
Napoleon not only rose to authority quickly, he dominated the European continent in almost no time at all. His motive was purely political and his status meant more to him than anything else. To aide his status, Napoleon looted thousands of artworks over his decade of global rule, including priceless works from Egypt and the Vatican. All of these were sent back to Paris for the emperor’s own museum which bore his name, later becoming The Louvre. For Napoleon, though, it was never about the beauty or transformative qualities of the art; it was only ever about power.
To accompany his empire, Napoleon set out to construction a museum bearing his name. To fill this museum, Napoleon and his men took paintings, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts from the nations that he conquered. Each wok that was taken has its own story, some ending in the return to its original home, and others remaining at the Louvre. My paper discusses the looting of Venice, specifically the Wedding at Cana, by Paolo Veronese, the largest painting in the Louvre today. In 2006, an agreement was reached and a facsimile was made to take the place of wear the painting was originally located in the Benedictine refectory of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.
The Bamiyan Buddhas are situated in the area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley. In March 2001, the two Bamiyan Buddhas, one 55m and the other 37m tall, were destroyed by the Taliban, a group of conservative Pashtuns lead by Mullah Mohammad Omar. Since the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, there has been much debate on whether or not to reconstruct them. Since the Taliban had religious, economic, and political reasons for destroying the Buddhas, there has been historical and economical, along with the limitation of original materials and the presence of locals, as reasons for why the remains should be preserved and not reconstructed.
The Nazi’s stole hundreds of thousands of art works during their rampage across Europe. Over the past 7 decades, survivors and their heirs have struggled against many obstacles to restitution to include poor provenance and the cost of litigation. In recent years, the United States has led the way in efforts to improve cooperation between nations that may have some of the art in their museums. The Washington Conference in 1998 set forth Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Att. As recently as December 2016, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 was enacted to provide federal guidelines for the statute of limitations and override the variations from state to state. Hopefully with improved and shared databases, global cooperation and the drive to do the right thing, once and for all, processes will improve for those heirs attempting to be reunited with art that previously belonged to a family member.