The Paintings Behind The Monuments Men Cover

This is one of the most famous photos of the Monuments Men, and it just so happens to also be the cover photo of The Monuments Men. It was taken in May 1945, and shows Monuments Man Lt. James Rorimer with three soldiers of the Seventh Army carrying three paintings down the steps of the Castle of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany, where they had been hidden by the Nazis.

But have you ever wondered what the three paintings are?

From left to right on the photo above are: Chardin’s Reflected White cat on a black lacquer box with brick-red curtain (1749); Adriaen Brouwer’s Farmers Playing Cards in a Tavern; and Nicolas de Largillière’s Portrait of a Woman.

Both the Chardin and the Largillière belonged to the Rothschild family (their respective ERR numbers are R 1232 and R 437) while Brouwer’s oil painting belonged to the Max Wasserman collection (M.W. 45). The Largillière was looted from the bank vault of Baron Philippe de Rothschild in late 1940 and transferred to the Jeu de Paume in February 1941, the portrait was recovered by the Monuments Men in May 1945, in large part due also thanks to the notes that Rose Valland had secretly taken during the occupation of Paris. It was repatriated to France in November 1945 and then officially restituted to the family on May 3, 1946.

Interestingly, the first image seen in ERR Album 6 is this very Portrait of a Woman by Nicolas de Largillière. Album 6, one of four albums returned to the National Archives by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, includes images of 73 paintings which represented very early thefts carried out by the ERR. You can read more about the Foundation's donation of Album 6 and and view the presentation here.

Page from Album 6 (courtesy of Monuments Men and Women Foundation)

The Largillière's portrait remained in the Rothschild collection until 1978, when it was sold at auction a first time. In October 2024, it was sold again as part of Christie’s Old Master auction in Paris.

You can find more information about these three paintings at errproject.org.

• Chardin

• Brouwer

• Largillière