Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
A marble bust that a Texas woman bought for about 35 Dollars at Goodwill, a thrift store, is temporarily on display at a San Antonio museum after experts determined it to be a centuries-old sculpture missing in Germany since World War II.
The bust, which art collector Laura Young found at Goodwill in 2018, it once belonged to the collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, according to the San Antonio Museum of Art, which is temporarily displaying the piece until it is returned to Germany next year.
Soldier would have taken the sculpture to the United States
The ancient Roman bust dates from the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD and historians believe it may represent a son of Pompey the Great, who was defeated in the civil war by Julius Caesar, the museum said. The sculpture was last seen in Aschaffenburg, Germany, and experts believe a soldier took the sculpture to the United States, the museum said.
A Sotheby’s consultant identified the work and authenticated it, said the museum.
“We are very happy that a piece of Bavarian history that we thought was lost has reappeared and can soon return to its rightful location” , said Bernd Schreiber, president of the Bavarian Palaces, Gardens and Lakes Administration.
Young said it was a few months of “intense emotion” after learning the history of the piece, which he found on the floor under a table at a Goodwill in Austin (Texas).
A “bittersweet” comeback
Young reached an agreement to return the bust to Germany with the help of a lawyer specializing in international art law, reported the KUT radio station in Austin. The terms of the agreement were confidential.
“But it was bittersweet, as I knew I couldn’t keep or sell the (bust),” he said. . “Anyway, I’m glad I was able to be a small part of (his) long and complicated history, and it looked great in the house while I had it.”
FEW (AP, The New York Times)