They’re taking aim at this saintly work.
The Romanian government is suing Christie’s auction house and a Russian billionaire to halt the sale of a painting by El Greco that it claims was stolen by the last king of Romania over 70 years ago, a new lawsuit claims.
The legendary piece, San Sebastian — painted by the Greek old master between 1610 and 1614 — was listed last month for auction by Christie’s for an estimated $9 million.
But the Romanian government wants to bring the hammer down on the sell-off before it happens with claims that the image of the Christian martyr St. Sebastian being pierced by arrows was stolen and cannot be legally sold.
“The painting is of great importance to Romania, and its national history, and is stolen property until it is returned to the Romanian state,” said the nation’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu.
Shortly before King Michael I abdicated the Romanian throne following the nation’s Soviet takeover in 1947, he illegally moved roughly 40 works from the royal palace’s national gallery to a Swiss bank account, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco, painted Saint Sebastian in three district versions, and the Romanian government says this painting is clearly theirs.
Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev last purchased the painting — improperly, the suit claims — and is also being sued to return the work.
“If this unique, historically significant, and irreplaceable painting is sold before Romania can have her ownership claims heard and adjudicated, it would cause immediate and irreparable harm to the State of Romania and her people,” Ciolacu continued.
Christie’s removed the painting just days before the auction after learning that Romania was making yet another claim of ownership to the painting.
“Christie’s takes provenance research seriously and offers property when it believes it will pass good title,” the auction house said in a statement to The Post.
This suit is the latest legal action filed by the former eastern bloc nation to retrieve the treasured artwork, which has been in hiding for several decades, and has been the rightful property of Romania for over 100 years.
That long search, first initiated by the former communist government in 1948, led to what the Romanian government claims is an accurate record of its provenance.
Romania’s first monarch, King Carol I, had amassed a large collection of art — including many works by El Greco — and in 1899, bequeathed the works to “remain forever and entirely in the country, as the property of the Crown of Romania.”
Those works, including San Sebastian, became part of Romania’s national gallery when the King died in 1914.
But in 1947, the then King Michael I removed roughly 40 paintings belonging to the crown — including the El Greco in question — and deposited them in a Swiss bank, the suit claims.
About a month later, the new communist government dissolved the monarchy, forcing Michael to abdicate.
He later sold San Sebastian in 1975 to Manhattan gallery, Wildenstein & Co, who then sold it to the current owner, a trust allegedly owned by Rybolovlev.
Aside from a brief exhibition in Spain nearly 40 years ago, the painting has largely been tucked away.
While much of that timeline is reflected in Christie’s published provenance, the lawsuit claims the auction house failed to mention the work was never the property of King Michael I.
“Contrary to the provenance published by Christie’s, the Painting was not transferred from the Romanian Crown to King Michael I with the ‘accord’ of the Romanian government or otherwise,” the suit states, claiming there is no evidence of the work being officially given to the former king. “This entry obscures Romania’s true ownership of this stolen artwork.”
The art, like other property of the former crown, should have entered public ownership after the monarchy fell, according to the Romanian government.
“Although Christie’s agreed to withdraw the Painting from the February 5, 2025 auction, the defendants Accent and Mr. Rybolovlev have refused to return the Painting to Plaintiff,” the suit reads.
Rybolovlev, who is said to have a $2 billion art collection, failed in suing other top auction house Sotherby’s for fraud allegations last year.
Rybolovlev’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Romania’s previous lawsuits against past supposed owners and the former King Michael failed, but the new suit said those past dismissals were based on jurisdiction and technical issues, not on the “merits of Romania’s ownership claim.”
An alleged heir of King Michael I has also filed a lawsuit making a claim to the painting following news of Christie’s pulling it from the Old Masters auction.
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