A painting looted by the Nazis and recovered by the Monuments Men during World War II goes up for sale

In an iconic photo from 1945, four American soldiers stand on the steps of a German castle holding three priceless paintings. The soldiers were part of the Allies. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program – also known as the Monuments Men – that restored and protected cultural properties during and after World War II. Now one of the rescued paintings in that snapshot, a portrait of a woman in a lavish dress, is being auctioned.

The French painter Nicolas de Largillierre made Portrait of a woman in full body while he worked as an artist at the court of Louis XIVwho ruled France between 1643 and 1715. According to a statement from Christie’s, which will sell the artwork later this month, the Nazis stole the piece from Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s bank vault in Arcachon, France, in 1940.

The portrait was one of them hundreds of thousands of works of art that Adolf Hitler’s armies seized during the Second World War. They brought the piece to Paris’ Jeu de Paume museum before it was moved to Germany Neuschwanstein Castlewhere it was found by the Monuments Men at the end of the war.

At the upcoming auction, to be held on November 21, Christie’s expects the portrait to fetch between $55,000 and $88,000.

“The Monuments Men photographs taught the world about the Nazi plunder,” Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, told the newspaper. New York TimesNina Siegal. “This is not the story of a restitution of a work that is enormously valuable, but it has the depth of story and history.”

During the war, the French art historian Rose Vallandwho was part of the resistance, kept a secret registration of stolen works of art. As a curator at the Jeu de Paume, which the Nazis used as a repository for their looting, Valland was able to make copies of German inventories and archives, keeping track of the whereabouts of pieces.

When Paris was liberated in 1944, Valland shared her information with U.S. Army Captain James Rorimer, the art curator who led the Monuments Men. Per Artnet‘s Sarah Cascone, Valland had recorded 29 Nazi shipments to Neuschwanstein Castle, sending the soldiers to Bavaria. As Robert Edsel, co-author of The monument mentells the TimesRorimer’s team had to hurry.

“It was a race to get to Germany and to get to these locations before these most hardcore Nazis [started] destroying not only the art, but also the data of the theft,” he says.

The photo of Portrait of a womanEdsel’s rescue graces the cover of Edsel’s book, which inspired a Movie from 2014 directed by George Clooney. In the image, Rorimer stands behind the three other soldiers with a pen and notebook in hand.

Valland earned many awards for her services, including the French Médaille de la Résistance and the US Presidential Medal of FreedomAnd Portrait of a woman was returned to the original owners in 1946.