“Stained glass thefts were committed within Rouen Cathedral at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the following century,” explained the president of the association, Philippe Machicote, in West France. Smuggled through the Parisian market, these stained glass windows ended up in the hands of American collectors and, after their death, in museums. This is why I filed a complaint in mid-December with the Rouen public prosecutor for concealment of theft, the theft being prescribed. »
What will the prosecutor do?
Three American museums are in the association’s sights: the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn (Pennsylvania), the Worcester Art Museum (Massachusetts) and the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). But if the association has historical proof of their authenticity, in particular the testimony of an archaeologist and art historian, the return to France of the pieces of the stained glass window of the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus” from Rouen Cathedral is far from ‘be acquired.
The president of the association told the newspaper about a precedent this time concerning the Paris cathedral and opposite, the imposing Sotheby’s House. It was in 2021, and his complaint had simply been dismissed by the Paris prosecutor’s office, cutting short his complaint.
2024-01-17 16:43:58
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