Saint Sebastian by El Greco
Christie’s withdrew an El Greco masterpiece from an Old Master sale this February after the Romanian government claimed it had been stolen from the country in the 1940s. And now, sources have revealed the identity of the painting’s current owner: the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Saint Sebastian by El Greco was originally part of the royal collection of Romania. In 1947, the country’s Soviet-backed government forced King Michael I to abdicate. He escaped the country, taking a large portion of the royal collection with him, including Saint Sebastian. The painting was meant to feature as the top lot in the February 5th Old Masters evening sale at Christie’s, estimated to sell for at least $7 million. When Christie’s first pulled the El Greco, the painting’s seller was unknown but has now been identified as Dmitry Rybolovlev. Rybolovlev is well-known in the art world as a Monaco-based Russian billionaire and art collector. The most prominent work he has ever owned was Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which he sold at Christie’s for $400 million ($450.3 million w/p). He also stole headlines by engaging in a decade-long legal feud with the Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier.
Depending on which art historian you’re talking to, Saint Sebastian dates to the first or second decades of the seventeenth century. It was likely originally rectangular but was cut to fit into an oval-shaped frame. It depicts the titular third-century saint, who was martyred by being tied to a post and shot with arrows. His martyrdom has been a popular subject for artists, with notable examples by Sandro Botticelli, Peter Paul Rubens, Guido Reni, Titian, Albrecht Dürer, Andrea Mantegna, and Gianlorenzo Bernini. Sebastian is considered the patron saint of soldiers and athletes as well as the sick and disabled. However, in the past century or two, Saint Sebastian has become an icon among the queer community. This is partially due to his appearance in art as an attractive young man but also as symbolizing the suffering queer people endure at the hands of a homophobic, heteronormative society.
The Romanian government is pursuing its claim through the Paris Judicial Tribunal. After Christie’s pulled the El Greco from the sale, Romania’s prime minister Marcel Ciolacu commented, “After decades, it’s time for this irreplaceable painting to return to where it belongs, to the national art collection and to the Romanian people”. When Saint Sebastian appeared in the Christie’s evening sale catalogue, the Romanian government spoke out, claiming that the provenance listed for the painting was incorrect. In the listed chain of ownership, Christie’s mentioned that King Carol I of Romania purchased the painting in 1898, transferring it to the Romanian royal collection upon his death in 1914. Following his overthrow in 1947, Michael I took the painting out of the country “with the accord of the Romanian government”, according to the Christie’s provenance. He held onto the work until 1976, when he sold the El Greco to the London gallery Wildenstein & Co. Romania’s treasury, however, denies that this was the case. Since the crown owned the royal collection and was not the personal property of the monarch, ownership would pass to the government of Romania following the monarchy’s dissolution. They argue that the king did not have the right to take any paintings with him during his escape, and these works of art, including Saint Sebastian, are legally the property of the Romanian government and should be classified as stolen.