Restitution of the painting Hl. Anna Selbdritt

The Bavarian State Painting Collections are returning the painting St. Anna Selbdritt [St. Anne with the Virgin and Child], dating from around 1522–1525 and originating from the circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder, to the heirs of Ernst Magnus (Hanover). 

The small-format painting was consigned by Ernst Magnus to Galerie Fischer in Lucerne in 1940 and sold in 1941 via the art dealer Walter Andreas Hofer to Hermann Göring. After the end of the Second World War, the work was secured by the American Allies at the Central Collecting Point and initially handed over in trust to the Bavarian premier. In 1961, it was transferred to the Bavarian State Painting Collections as an acquisition from Nazi ownership. 

The heirs previously filed a restitution claim in 2009, but this was rejected after review in 2010 based on the guidelines that were in force at the time. Following a renewed review based on the new assessment framework issued by the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property – the review and decision-making process to be applied to cultural property expropriated as a result of Nazi persecution – the decision was revised and restitution has now been approved. 

Ernst Magnus (1871–1942) and his wife Ida were from Hesse and lived in Hanover for many years. Magnus was director of Commerz- und Disconto-Bank Hannover, a member of the stock exchange board and, from 1914 to 1933, a member of the supervisory board of Continental Gummi-Werke AG. Together with his wife, he compiled an art collection under the guidance of one of Wilhelm von Bode’s assistants. 

After the National Socialists seized power, the family was increasingly deprived of its rights. Accounts were frozen, properties sold below value, and the discriminatory Jewish property levy and Reich Flight Tax had to be paid. In 1935, Ernst Magnus emigrated to Lausanne as a result of persecution, taking with him parts of his collection and valuable furnishings. In order to finance the costs of flight and obtain a visa for Cuba, Magnus was forced to sell further artworks, including Hl.Anna Selbdritt [St. Anne with the Virgin and Child]. When Swiss asylum regulations became stricter, the family succeeded in leaving via Seville for Havana in 1941, where Ernst Magnus died only a few months later, on 12 February 1942. His wife and daughter were later able to flee onwards to the United States. 

For details of restitutions made by the Bavarian State Painting Collections, see: https://www.pinakothek.de/en/the-museums/research/provenance-research/restitutionen