GHENT.- After more than a year of legal, historical, and archival scrutiny, the City of Ghent has decided not to return Portrait of Bishop Antonius Triest by Gaspar de Crayer to the heirs of Antwerp art dealer Samuel Hartveld. The decision, taken on 20 November 2025, follows the unanimous recommendation of an independent commission appointed by the city to assess the claim.

The painting, dated after 1630, is owned by the City of Ghent and has been part of the collection of the Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (MSK) since 1948. Its wartime history, however, is far from straightforward.

A claim rooted in wartime loss

The restitution request was formally submitted to the MSK on 3 October 2023 on behalf of a trust representing the heirs and great-grandchildren of Samuel Hartveld, a Jewish art dealer who fled Antwerp for New York in 1940. Hartveld and his family were victims of Nazi persecution, and much of his art collection was seized after his departure.

Previous research, including work by journalist and author Geert Sels, had already established that the Portrait of Bishop Antonius Triest was among 66 paintings confiscated by the occupying forces during the Second World War. In 1942, the works were sold under duress, and in 1948 the portrait entered the Ghent city collection via a resale by restorer René Van de Broek.

What remained unclear for decades was whether Hartveld—or his heirs—had later received compensation for these losses.

An independent commission steps in

Because Belgium has no permanent national body dedicated to handling restitution claims for Nazi-looted art, the City of Ghent took the unusual step of creating its own independent ad hoc commission in November 2024.

The panel brought together expertise in restitution law, art history, and legal history, and was supported by new academic research into postwar compensation mechanisms. Over nine months, the commission examined archival records, court files, notarial documents, and inheritance proceedings in Belgium and abroad.

Their conclusion was unequivocal.

Compensation already received

While the commission confirmed that the painting had indeed been spoliated—seized under coercive wartime conditions—it also found compelling evidence that Hartveld and his direct heirs were financially compensated in the years following the war.

According to the commission’s 20-page report, multiple independent sources point to postwar settlements that covered the loss of Hartveld’s collection, including the painting now held in Ghent. On that basis, the panel concluded that there is no legal or moral justification for restitution or additional financial compensation in 2025.

The City of Ghent accepted this recommendation in full.

Acknowledging a painful history

Importantly, the decision does not seek to minimize what happened. The commission stressed that prior compensation does not erase the injustice Hartveld suffered as a Jewish art dealer targeted during the Nazi occupation.

As a form of moral redress, the panel recommended that the painting’s wartime seizure be clearly and explicitly acknowledged wherever the work is displayed or discussed. The city and the MSK have committed to doing so, ensuring that the painting’s provenance history openly reflects the circumstances under which it was taken.

A broader European context

The case highlights ongoing challenges across Europe in dealing with Nazi-era restitution claims, particularly in countries without centralized restitution authorities. Each case often depends on painstaking historical reconstruction, fragmented archives, and legal decisions made decades ago.

In Ghent’s view, following the independent commission’s findings strikes a balance between historical accountability and legal responsibility—recognizing both the reality of wartime spoliation and the fact that compensation was already provided.

For Portrait of Bishop Antonius Triest, that means it will remain in Ghent’s public collection, now accompanied by a fuller and more transparent account of its past.