George Menz
Christie’s has cancelled a much-anticipated auction of a piece by El Greco—depicting Saint Sebastian, the Christian martyr who was tied to a stake and shot full of arrows by Roman soldiers—following a legal challenge by the government of Romania.
El Greco—named for his place of origin, in Crete, but active most famously in Spain, where he combined the traditions of Byzantine iconography with the innovations of the High Renaissance, proving to be one of the greatest exponents of the movement retrospectively called “Mannerism”—produced the work in the early 17th century.[1]
The work in question came into the hands of the King of Romania, Carol I, in the late 19th century.[2] He subsequently transferred the work from his personal ownership to the possession of the Romanian crown—hence, the work would not belong to him in his individual capacity, but as a part of his position as the nation’s monarch. The Romanian monarchy lasted another 50 years, but following World War II—during which Romania, under a right-wing dictatorship, initially allied with but subsequently turned against Nazi Germany—Carol I’s great-nephew, Michael, was deposed and forced to flee the country.[3] Romania subsequently became a part of the Communist Bloc. From 1965 to 1989, the country was ruled by Nicolae Ceausescu, who was deposed and killed along with his wife as part of the ongoing collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.[4]
Christie’s listing states that the work was transferred to Michael’s personal possession prior to his flight from the country.[5] Michael was decisive in changing Romania’s position during the war: he led a coup against the fascist leader, Ion Antonescu, and recommitted Romania to the Allied faction. The Romanian government’s position is that the paintings were removed from the country surreptitiously. A previous attempt to reclaim the paintings through a suit in Manhattan court was dismissed.[6]
Perhaps the Romanian government thinks the new venue they’ve chosen for their suit—the Paris Judicial Tribunal[7]—will prove to be more amenable to their claims, or else they hope that thirty years post-transition to democracy, they will appear to be more responsible stewards of the masterpiece. But whichever way the Tribunal ultimately decides the case, the dispute raises interesting questions which arise whenever a country shrugs aside monarchical rule and becomes a republic. Namely: when for centuries a single individual (series of individuals, rather) has been identified with the state itself, do those individuals lose their rights to claim a personal interest in the possessions they acquire through their privileged position?
It’s a question relevant to multiple states in Europe. The former King of Greece, Constantine, won a judgment against the Greek government in the European Court of Human Rights, which stated that he was unjustly deprived of his estates following the deposition of the monarchy and ordered the government to pay him restitution.[8]
On the other hand, the heir to the German Kaiser, Prince Georg Friedrich of the House of Hohenzollern (which notably furnished the Romanian royal family through a cadet branch), has fought for years with German authorities to try and reclaim a collection which was confiscated after the fall of the Nazi regime.[9]
In that case, the links between the German imperial family and the Nazi government has been a point of contention, since German law blocks restitution for those who helped the regime come to power.[10] The Romanian government hasn’t publicized a similar claim, but the ties between the royal family and Antonescu’s dictatorship might similarly turn the court in their favor—although, as noted above, it was the last king, Michael, who forced Antonescu out of power and brought Romania to the side of the Allied Powers.[11]
Without greater clarity into the legal strategy that both the auction house and the Romanian government will try to employ in the proceedings, it’s difficult to predict the outcome of the dispute over Saint Sebastian. But just as the Christian saint had his body pierced by arrows, so too does this case reveal the violence and strife underlying so many transactions which appear, on the surface, to be urbane and genteel.
[1]El Greco (Spanish, 1541–1614), National Gallery of Art, http://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/el-greco-spanish-1541-1614.html (last visited Feb. 15, 2025); Saint Sebastian, WikiArt, http://www.wikiart.org/en/el-greco/st-sebastian-1 (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).
[2]Tessa Solomon, Christie’s Sale of El Greco Painting Blocked by Romanian Government, ARTnews (Feb. 6, 2025), http://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/christies-sale-el-greco-painting-blocked-romanian-government-1234731955/.
[3]Romania History, Romania Tourism, http://www.romaniatourism.com/history.html (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).
[4]Ceaușescu, Nicolae (1918-1989), Wilson Center Digital Archive, http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/people/ceausescu-nicolae (last visited Feb. 15, 2025).
[5]Colin Moynihan, An El Greco Is Pulled From an Auction as Romania Objects, New York Times (Feb. 7, 2025), http://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/arts/design/el-greco-painting-christies-romania-government.html.
[6]Richard Perez-Pena, Romania's Ex-King and His Country in Art Duel, New York Times (Sept. 14, 1993), http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/14/nyregion/romania-s-ex-king-and-his-country-in-art-duel.html.
[7]Judd Tully, Christie's pulls El Greco work from sale after Romanian government intervenes, The Art Newspaper (Feb. 6, 2025), http://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/02/06/christies-pulls-el-greco-from-sale-after-romanian-government-intervenes.
[8]Andrew Osborn, Ex-king of Greece reclaims his lost palaces, The Guardian (Nov. 23, 2000), http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/nov/24/andrewosborn.
[9]Scott McLean and Nadine Schmidt, Germany’s ex-royals want their riches back, but past ties to Hitler stand in the way, CNN (Dec. 30, 2020), http://www.cnn.com/style/article/hohenzollern-prince-georg-prussia/index.html.
[10]Id.
[11]Petru Clej, Romania's King Michael: A democrat in the face of totalitarian regimes, BBC (Dec. 5, 2017), http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41959517.