Prosecutors in the town of Ostróda have opened an investigation into the suspected handling of stolen cultural goods after the work was found on a private property.
Investigators now have to establish where the sculpture had been was for 25 years, and whether the person who had it knew it had been stolen.
The piece, valued at PLN 1 million (EUR 230,000, USD 270,000), is in museum custody in nearby Morąg, where an expert is due to assess its condition and confirm its authenticity.
The work is a portrait of gardener Johann Larass, carved in pink Carrara marble in 1903. It was created for the Döhlau estate in East Prussia--now Dylewo in Poland's Warmińsko-Mazurskie province--for the von Rose family, who were important patrons of the arts in the region.
The recovery matters well beyond Poland as Wildt was one of the leading figures in Italian sculpture at the start of the 20th century. He became known for intensely polished marble works that combined symbolism with a distinctly modern style.
Wildt worked for the Rose family from 1894 until the death of Franz Rose. He later taught at Milan’s Brera Academy, where Lucio Fontana, who would become one of Italy’s most influential postwar artists, was among the sculptors linked to his artistic legacy. Wildt died in 1931.
For Poland, the case is significant because the sculpture was part of a lost cultural landscape as well as a major work of art.
The sculpture had been listed internationally as an important missing artwork. An earlier investigation into the theft was dropped after those responsible could not be identified.
The breakthrough came after an anonymous caller contacted a curator at the Museum of Warmia and Mazuria in the regional capital Olsztyn and said where the sculpture was believed to be. The museum then alerted prosecutors.
(rt/gs)
Source: dzieje.pl