Provenance Research: Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, “Christ and the Captain of Capernaum”, ca. 1775/80

The Kunsthalle Bremen purchased the painting “Christ and the Captain of Capernaum” (ca. 1775/80) by Giandomenico Tiepolo from the art dealer Walter Feilchenfeldt in Zürich in 1960. The accompanying documents listed the Lederer Collection, Vienna, as the place of origin and the collector Erich Lederer as the prior owner. This project aims to investigate the provenance of the painting in more detail due to a restitution claim issued by the heirs of Mathilde Lieben of Vienna. According to the heirs, the painting had belonged to Mathilde Lieben’s collection which had been confiscated by the Nazis at the end of 1939 or beginning of 1940. However, the Kunstverein Bremen has determined it was not possible to identify the painting or prove beyond a doubt that it was unlawfully confiscated. It is also unclear where the painting had been located and how it ended up in the Lederer Collection. The goal of this short-term project is to fill in the gaps of provenance as extensively as possible.

(c) Kunsthalle Bremen