Tate Britain is set to reunite the great-grandchildren of Samuel Hartveld, a Jewish Belgian art collector, with a painting looted by the Nazis during World War II. The artwork, titled Aeneas and His Family Fleeing Burning Troy, was taken from Hartveld's home in Antwerp after he fled with his wife in May 1940. This painting by Henry Gibbs, created in 1654, stands as a symbol of the broader Nazi looting of Jewish cultural property in Europe.

According to the BBC, the Spoliation Advisory Panel declared the artwork was "looted as an act of racial persecution." The panel plays a crucial role in investigating claims concerning cultural property acquired under duress during the Nazi era. The UK government's culture department announced that the painting will be returned to Hartveld’s descendants in the coming months, although a specific handover date has yet to be set.

The family expressed their profound gratitude over the decision. In a statement, they highlighted how "the decision clearly acknowledges the awful Nazi persecution of Samuel Hartveld and that the 'clearly looted' painting belonged to Mr Hartveld," as reported by Le Monde.

Tate director Maria Balshaw emphasized the gallery's commitment to rectifying past injustices, stating, "It is a profound privilege to help reunite this work with its rightful heirs." She expressed anticipation for the day the family can visit the museum and reclaim the artwork, previously acquired by the Tate in 1994 from the Galerie Jan de Maere in Brussels.

Hartveld survived WWII but was never able to recover his extensive art collection, which many assume was scattered across Europe following his exile. The charity set up by the family, initiated in 1986 by Sonia Klein, aims to navigate the legal complexities surrounding such restitutions.

Many of the artworks confiscated by the Nazis were slated for resale, given to officials, or intended for the Fuehrermuseum, a never-completed project of Adolf Hitler. Historical efforts, including the dispatch of museum experts by the U.S. at the war's end, enabled the return of numerous looted works to their rightful owners. However, as per a 2009 report from the Holocaust Era Assets Conference, about 100,000 of the 650,000 stolen works remained unreturned, underscoring the challenges of art restitution.

The UK's Spoliation Advisory Panel has handled 23 claims in the past 25 years, successfully facilitating the return of 14 artworks to former owners' heirs.

For more details on this significant restitution, visit the full article on SCMP.