Painting spotted on Madonna’s wall is lost masterpiece that vanished in WWI, say French experts – and they want it back

EXPERTS in France believe a painting seen on Madonna’s wall is a lost masterpiece which vanished in World War I – and now they want it back. The US pop star legitimately purchased the painting of Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, looking at Endymion, the mythological shepherd, at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, paying $440,000 for it in 1989. InstagramMadonna with son David Banda in front of her painting[/caption] AlamyFrench experts believe Madonna may own Jerome-Martin Langlois’ original painting Diana and Endymion[/caption] Art experts now believe it could be a masterpiece that went missing in Amiens, northern France when the city was attacked by Germany in 1918. Diane et Endymion by the 19th-century neoclassical painter Jerome-Martin Langlois was thought to have been destroyed in the bombing of Amiens’s fine art museum eight months before the end of the First World War. Amiens’s mayor has now pleaded with Madonna to lend her work to the city, hoping to boost the city’s chances of being named European capital of culture in 2028. No one knows for sure what happened to Langlois’ painting. When the distinguished curator at the Louvre, Jacque Foucart, made inquiries about the whereabouts of the painting in the 1970s, he could find no written trace of it after 1911. He concluded it had either been blown up by the Germans or it could have been removed from the museum and sold on the black market. The matter rested there until an art expert from Amiens came across a report on Madonna in Paris Match, in 2015. A photo showed the pop star on the stairs of her home with a painting behind her which looked like Langlois’s missing masterpiece. The expert contacted city hall officials in Amiens and they filed a criminal lawsuit alleging the painting had been stolen, along with 14 other works that disappeared from the city’s museum in the First World War. A French police inquiry was launched but appears not to have got anywhere, other than establishing that if the painting was stolen, Madonna was not culprit. The painting was bought in good faith by Madonna, who was given an export licence by the French authorities and was neither dated, signed nor bearing the seal said to be on the original masterpiece. The painting was sold by Sotheby’s as a “replica of the painting of the same title and identical dimensions which Langlois exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1822, now destroyed”. The auction house suggested the replica had also been done by Langlois. However, some people in Amiens believe the auction house could have been mistaken and think the painting may have been cut to remove the date, the signature and the seal, helping it to gain an export licence. If that proves to be correct, Madonna has the original masterpiece. The mystery behind the painting was publicised in Le Figaro last week, which was read by Brigitte Foure, the mayor of Amiens. In a recorded Facebook message for Madonna, she said: “You probably haven’t heard of Amiens, but a few days ago a special link was forged between you and our city. “I learnt that you bought a painting by Jérôme-Martin Langlois a few years ago. Well, it is probable that this painting was lent to Amiens museum by the Louvre before the First World War and we lost trace of it. “We obviously don’t contest in any way your legal acquisition of this work. But… we are a candidate to become European capital of culture in 2028. I would like you to lend us this painting in 2028 so that the people of Amiens can rediscover and make the most of this work.” The mayor has also written to President Emmanuel Macron, who grew up in Amiens, for his backing. However, if Madonna did lend the city her painting, she would no doubt run the risk that officials would almost certainly analyse it to discover whether or not it really is the missing masterpiece. If it proved to be the genuine painting, the French state would very likely intervene to keep it. The news comes just days after Madonna announced a 35-city world tour celebrating 40 years in music. The superstar will kick off her Celebration Tour in Vancouver in July, bringing the show to the UK on October 14 for a show at London’s O2 Arena. The concerts promise to include hits from throughout her iconic career and will pay tribute to New York, where she started her career. AlamyGermany bombed Amiens’ museum towards the end of World War 1[/caption]