17th century ‘valuable oil paintings’ found in highway dumpster in Germany
Two 17th century paintings have been found in a highway dumpster in southeast Germany, police said.
According to investigators, the two “valuable oil paintings” were discovered by a 64-year-old man in a large garbage container at a highway rest stop in the Bavaria region on May 18.
The man then handed the paintings to police in the western city of Cologne.
On Friday, Cologne police released a statement asking for the public’s help in locating the paintings’ owner.
#PolizeiNRW #Köln #Leverkusen: Wertvolle Ölgemälde in Müllcontainer an der A7 in Mittelfranken entdeckt/Fotos - Infos unter https://t.co/2pnX3zs6I8 pic.twitter.com/Fblk5wpQTN
— Polizei NRW K (@polizei_nrw_k) June 18, 2021
One painting is a self-portrait showing the Italian artist Pietro Bellotti (1627-1700) smiling. The work dates to 1665, police said.
The other is the portrait of a boy by the Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678). The date is unknown.
According to London’s National Gallery, Hoogstraten was a student of Rembrandt and best remembered for his experiments in perspective.
After an initial assessment by an expert, both paintings appear to be original works, police said.
