Famous Art Thefts: The Last Judgment

Historians actually believe the very first art theft occurred when The Last Judgment by Hans Memling in 1473 was taken….not for the last but for the first time.

The Last Judgment is actually a triptych painting which means the painting is actually in three sections hinged together.

The painting was stolen by pirates.   Yes, real pirates.  It was on a ship headed for Florence  when the pirates took the ship, and they ended up with the painting.

The pirates took Memling’s work to a cathedral in Gdansk, Poland and believe it or not…..it’s still there – in the National Museum.

It’s a little surprising anyone would want to keep it.   The painting IS a little scary, isn’t it?

The Museum’s website states Angelo Tani, head of the Bruges branch of Medici’s bank commissioned the painting in 1465 for a church in Florence… Badia Fiesolana, but it never hung there since the painting was taken by pirates and eventually hung in St. Mary’s Church.

Later the painting was connected with the name van Eyck and over the centuries other painters from the Netherlands were thought to have painted The Last Judgement.   It wasn’t finally attributed to Memling until 1843.

From the 1700s forward the painting was caught up in various wars.  During the Northern War (1716-1717) Russian tsar Peter the Great demanded the painting as part of the reparations imposed on Gdansk.   In 1807, Napoleon’s army occupied Gdansk and took the painting to Paris where it was incorrectly identified it as a van Eyck.  

After Napoleon’s fall the Prussians took the painting to Berlin before it was returned to Gdansk where it eventually wound up in St. Reynaud’s Chapel.

Fortunately, The Last Judgment survived World War II though many works of art did not.   Initially the painting was found by the Soviet Army.  They took the painting to Lenningrad’s Hermitage as a war trophy.  On September 22, 1956 The Last Judgment was returned to Gdansk together with other artwork from the Gdansk Musem.