French city believes Madonna may be owner of lost artwork from first world war
The mayor of a French city believes Madonna may be the owner of a painting that was lost during the first world war.
Brigitte Fouré, mayor of Amiens in northern France, has insisted there is a “special link” between her town and the Queen of Pop in the shape of a “lost” painting that may currently in Madonna’s possession, per The Guardian.
Fouré she hopes the painting, titled ‘Diana and Endymion’ – which is thought to be by Jérôme-Martin Langlois – could help secure a successful bid for Amiens to become the European capital of culture in 2028.
“Madonna, you probably haven’t heard of Amiens… but there is a special link between you and our city,” Fouré said in a video message.
“This painting is probably a work that was lent to the Amiens museum by the Louvre before the first world war after which we lost trace of it,” she continued, appealing for the singer for a lend of the painting to support their bid.
“That is my prayer, the wish I am presenting to you.”
The painting, commissioned by Louis XVIII, completed in 1822, was exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts – which is now the Musée de Picardie – in Amiens from 1878, but was thought to be destroyed when the city was bombed in 1918.
According to an article in French newspaper Le Figaro, the painting or an identical copy reappeared in a New York auction in 1989, where Madonna paid $1.3million (£1million) for it, which was more than three times the estimated price.
A curator from Amiens reportedly only noticed it in 2015 in the background of a photo of Madonna in her home that was published in Paris Match magazine.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, reports emerged that Madonna set to embark on a 40th anniversary tour in 2023.
The post French city believes Madonna may be owner of lost artwork from first world war appeared first on NME.
Hollie Geraghty
NME
