一幅失踪28年的古画物归原主

In 1977, two London art dealers bought a 13th-century “Madonna and Child” that they believed had been painted by an early-Renaissance master, Duccio di Buoninsegna. Ownership shares were divided among several partners, but in 1986, the work went missing from a vault in Geneva.

1977年，伦敦的两位艺术品商人买下了13世纪画作《圣母与圣婴》(Madonna and Child)。他们认为，这幅画是文艺复兴早期的绘画大师杜乔·迪·博尼塞尼亚(Duccio di Buoninsegna)创作的。几位合伙人共同享有这幅画的所有权，但是1986年，这件作品从日内瓦的一个地下室里失踪。

Its location was unknown until January 2014 when Sotheby’s put the item up for auction in New York, identifying it as the work of a “Florentine painter within the ambit of Cimabue,” himself an important Italian master, according to a lawsuit filed by the federal authorities last year.

去年，联邦当局的诉讼文件称，直到2014年1月，这件作品才在苏富比拍卖行(Sotheby’s)的纽约拍卖会上现身，它被认为是“奇马布埃(Cimabue)身边的一位佛罗伦萨画家”创作的。奇马布埃是一位重要的意大利绘画大师。

The court papers said that the work had been stolen by one of the co-owners and that it had been spotted as being up for sale by the Art Recovery Group, a London investigative agency. Sotheby’s withdrew the painting from the auction, federal officials seized it, and the consignor and the heirs to the original owners went to court.

法庭文件称，这件作品是被其中一位共同所有人偷走的，拍卖时被伦敦调查机构艺术品追回组织(Art Recovery Group)认出。苏富比把这幅画从拍卖会上撤下，联邦官员将它查封，画作寄售人和原主人的后裔们诉诸法庭。

On Tuesday, the parties agreed to a settlement in which they will receive the painting back and will divide any proceeds from an intended future sale, according to Christopher A. Marinello, head of the Art Recovery Group. As for the work’s attribution, Sotheby’s last year said the work “undoubtedly shares an affinity with models by Duccio di Buoninsegna” but estimated its value at $600,000 to $800,000. In 2004, the Metropolitan Museum of Art paid more than $45 million for a Duccio the size of a sheet of typing paper.

据艺术品追回组织的负责人克里斯托弗·A·马里内洛(Christopher A. Marinello)说，周二，各方同意和解，他们将收回画作，共享未来拍卖的收益。至于这件作品的作者，去年苏富比称，它“无疑与杜乔·迪·博尼塞尼亚的典范之作非常接近”，不过估价在60万至80万美元之间。2004年，大都会艺术博物馆(Metropolitan Museum of Art)花费4500多万美元买下一幅打印纸大小的杜乔画作。

Mr. Marinello said the owners’ belief in the Duccio attribution was supported by a 1984 report in Apollo magazine by Alastair Smart, a British fine arts professor who died in 1992. In the report, Mr. Smart said he thought that the work had been painted by the Italian master.

马里内洛说，所有者们相信这件作品为杜乔之作是基于英国美术教授阿拉斯泰尔·斯马特（Alastair Smart，1992年去世）1984年发表在《阿波罗》(Apollo)杂志上的一篇报道。斯马特在报道中说，他认为这件作品是意大利绘画大师杜乔之作。

“It’s rare to recover a work that has been missing so long,” said Leila A. Amineddoleh, the lawyer who negotiated the settlement with her colleague, David J. Galluzzo.

“追回一件失踪如此之久的作品，实属罕见，”律师莱拉·A·阿米尼多尔(Leila A. Amineddoleh)说。她和同事大卫·J·加卢佐(David J. Galluzzo)是和解谈判的律师。