The works of art rescued during world war II. Photo

War is a time of total destruction of people, buildings, historical heritage.

During the Second world war, the Nazis, among other things, led the hunt for objects of world art. To save paintings, sculptures, hid it in an inconspicuous box, filled up with sand, were taken to the village. Thanks to such actions, many masterpieces were saved. This review is about the five most famous of them.

1. “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci

Few know how many had to travel the famous painting “Mona Lisa” during the Second world war. When war was declared, the most significant treasures of the Louvre were placed in watertight boxes and transported from Paris to the countryside. For the first time after leaving the Museum on August 28, 1939, the Mona Lisa was moved five more times, including the castles of the Loire valley and quiet abbeys. All this time the famous painting was in a simple, inconspicuous box. Art lovers breathed a sigh of relief when after the war the painting returned to the Louvre, where the famous portrait of a mysteriously smiling still.

2. “The last supper” by Leonardo da Vinci

Another masterpiece, Leonardo da Vinci, the last supper, indeed nearly died during the war. The picture on the wall of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan has been carefully covered with sandbags and scaffolding, which probably saved the work of Leonardo, when the Allies bombed the town on 15 August 1943 Air RAID turned all the churches into ruins, but the wall with the last supper, surprisingly, survived in the wreckage.

3. Collection Of Prinzhorn

During the Second world war have been saved and less well-known works of art, for example, a collection of Prinzhorn. These are drawings and paintings that were collected by the German doctor Hans Prinzhorn (Hans Prinzhorn) in the University psychiatric clinic in Heidelberg. He practiced in the years following the First world war and became interested in the art of the mentally ill. The Nazis destroyed part of the collection, about 5,000 images from 450 patients. They were considered a manifestation of “degenerate” art, which goes beyond ideas of perfection. Later, this manifestation of the work became known as art Brut, naive art or primitive. Fortunately, part of the collection was hidden in the vault of the University, survived the war and is now on permanent display in the clinic.

4. The Altarpiece Of Veit Stoss

Created in the late XV century altarpiece of the Church of the assumption of the blessed virgin Mary in kraków (Poland) is the largest example of religious Gothic sculpture. German sculptor wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss) for twelve years (1477-1489.) has created amazing beauty of the altar, measuring 13 by 11 metres, which has been spent annual budget of medieval Krakow. For centuries, this late Gothic style, standing in the Church, but in 1939 the poles it was dismantled and put in different boxes throughout the country. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the containers are detected and sent to the Reich. There the altar was kept in the basement of the Nuremberg castle, which was later completely bombed. However, the Polish prisoners warned the Resistance about the presence of an altar was found intact in the surviving basement. In 1946, the altarpiece of Veit Stoss was returned to Poland and was again decorated St. Mary’s Church.

5. The salt mine in Altaussee

Adolf Hitler had grandiose ideas about the führer Museum (Führermuseum), which was planned to assemble all the wonders of European art, robbing of the best museums in the occupied territories. A big part of the future collection almost died in the Austrian salt mines of Altaussee (Altaussee), including works by Michelangelo, Vermeer, dürer, as well as the Ghent altarpiece of van Eiki. Mine actually planned to blow up, burying under the ground of 6500 paintings. But the advent of the Americans prevented to destroy the mine.

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