MONZA - A 17th century painting by the French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) has been recovered in an art dealers in Padua almost 70 years after it was taken from its Jewish owners in Poitiers, France by the Nazi occupying forces in 1944. 

  Poussin's oil on canvas 'Lot with his two daughters serving him drink was discovered by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, based in Monza. It has been returned to its former owners' closest descendents, a 98 year old Swiss woman and a 68 year old American man.

  The investigation began in May 2020 when the descendents began a search for it through their Italian lawyer.

  In 1947 the French authorities listed the painting in an official list of the artistics works stolen during the war. The investigation also revealed that it was transported from France to Italy by an antique in 2017 before briefly being transported to Belgium and Holland for exhibitions in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

ol