French mayor wants painting on Madonna's wall back after it 'vanished in WWI'

19 January 2023 , 05:08

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A French mayor wants Madonna to loan back a nineteenth-century painting (Image: Instagram)

A town is pleading with Madonna to return a painting which was once thought to have been destroyed in World War I.

The mayor of Amiens in France has asked the American pop superstar to loan back the artwork by Jérôme-Martin Langlois after it was alleged to have disappeared more than a hundred years ago.

She has staked her claim after experts identified the painting - originally commissioned by Louis XVIII for display in the Palace of Versailles- on her wall in a photograph taken inside her home with her son.

Titled Diana and Endymion, it depicts the beguiling ancient Greek myth of a goddess who falls in love with a mortal shepherd - only for him to be cast into an immortal sleep when she kisses him.

But the painting has had taken on a story of its own, with the original long thought to have been destroyed at the Louvre in 1918 when Paris was bombed by the German army.

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Experts believe the original Diana and Endymion by Jérôme-Martin Langlois is on Madonna's wall (Instagram)

Mayor Brigitte Fouré told Madonna in video message that the painting created a 'special link' between her and Amiens

Some experts in France now however believe it to be safe and sound in Madonna's house, after it was discovered she bought it in an auction for $1.3million (£1.05million) back in 1989.

This has prompted a campaign from mayor Brigitte Fouré to have it returned to Amiens, where it was being loaned from at the time of its disappearance.

Addressing the pop legend directly in a new video, she said: "Madonna, you probably haven’t heard of Amiens … but there is a special link between you and our city.

The painting was once thought to have been destroyed during the bombing of Paris in WWI (Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

"This painting is probably a work that was lent to the Amiens museum by the Louvre before the first world war, after which we lost trace of it."

Ms Fouré went on to say the city did not "contest in any way that you have acquired this work legally", before asking her if she could "lend us this work" to help bolster their bid for European Capital of Culture in 2028, which will be decided later this year.

The speculation surrounding the painting - which was sold to Madonna without a date or signature by the artist - has not been commented on publicly by the singer herself.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas