I will say this only once – The Fallen Madonna

I am no great art enthusiast, as anyone who knows me will tell you, but there is one piece of artwork I would call my favourite piece. Its official name is The Fallen Madonna but it goes by many names including The Reclining Madonna or The Fallen Madonna with the Ample Figure, and it has quite the history from its creation to today.

Figure 1: A full look at the painting

Painted by famous Dutch artist van Clomp (1453-1507) early in his life (recognisable as when he was older he was taller, and so signed them further up), The Fallen Madonna is noted for its striking muse set against the background of a mountainous lake valley. One of the only paintings left in existence from the artist, it was highly sought after by the start of the 20th century. It exchanged hands several times and by the Fall of France in 1940 it was in the possession of Wehrmacht General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen, who kept it hidden in his Chateau.

Figure 2: A close look at the plaque attached to its current frame

This would not be the end of its story, however, as Wehrmacht Colonel Kurt von Strohm would steal the painting from the chateau with the aim of selling it after the end of the war. He originally kept it attached to the reverse side of a portrait of Hitler in his office, but when Gestapo Officer Otto Flick (Nazi secret police) came to his office enquiring about the missing painting, Kurt blackmailed café owner René Artois in Nouvion, France to keep it hidden.

Over the course of the war, the painting would be forged several times by Kurt. The first time was at the prompt of René, to save his own life, in order for them to throw Otto off the trail of the real painting. Without a forger on hand, the first forgery would be made in London and sent to René in France, an unwilling member of the French Resistance who passed it off as saving the painting from the Germans. Otto Flick would later make a second forgery, likely from the London one, which was latter destroyed. When the second forgery was then accidentally destroyed by one of Kurt’s staff officers, Lieutnant Hubert Gruber, Kurt commissioned two more forgeries to hide the real painting.

Figure 3: A photo of Otto with two of the paintings, one or possibly both being forgeries, after he found all three copies

Eventually, the real painting would enter the hands of the French Communist Resistance, who kept it safe from further attempts to steal or forge the painting. Following the war, the painting would enter a decades-long period of painstaking restoration following its wartime antics. Due to the value of the painting, and the need to keep it moved around and hidden in various ways, it was folded and rolled in various ways. Usually it was kept rolled up in a hidden compartment behind a wall in René’s café, but other times it was folded or hidden amongst foodstuffs. This constant folding and moving meant it was ultimately in poor condition following the war, and needed restoring. This was eventually finished in 1985 and was sold not to a museum but to a private buyer in 2007. In 2018, however, it again went up for auction and somewhat ironically was sold to an owner in Nouvion, where it had the most tumultuous period of its life.

Before we leave, however, I must mention another painting that is closely linked to The Fallen Madonna. This one is unfortunately lost, so there are no good surviving images of it, but it was a painting by Vincent van Gogh entitled The Cracked Vase with the Big Daisies. Originally, The Fallen Madonna was at one point hidden behind this painting at René’s café, where it had supposedly been given to his mother-in-law when she was dating Vincent in her youth. However, Erich acquired the painting (along with the stolen Fallen Madonna) when he took it from the café, believing the painting to have value. Like The Fallen Madonna, this painting would be forged several times, and the final whereabouts of the original is unknown. It’s believed that Hubert would be the final owner of the painting and sold it after the war, as he would soon mysteriously enter into substantial wealth.

Figure 4: The only surviving good image of The Cracked Vase with the Big Daisies, here on an easel in the study of Erich

Ultimately, the story of The Fallen Madonna and The Cracked Vase with the Big Daisies serves as one of the many hidden stories of artwork throughout history, and particularly during WWII. It’s lucky that The Fallen Madonna was not lost or destroyed during the war, and was able to be restored. The Cracked Vase with the Big Daisies, however, will likely remain forever lost like many paintings acquired by the Germans during the war.

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April Fool's! We hope you have a pleasant, restful festive break.

Berengar Needham is currently a student on the MSc Museum Studies programme at the University of Leicester.