Italy recovers 3 paintings seized during World War II

An Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer stands next to a painting "Circumcision of Jesus at Temple", attributed to early Renaissance painter Girolamo dai Libri, during a press conference on recovered paintings seized by the Nazis in 1944 in Camaiore near Lucca, Italy, at the Brera Art Gallery, in Milan, Italy, Monday, April 18, 2016. The paintings were seized from the Italian villa of Prince Felix Bourbon-Parma, then Prince of Luxembourg, and kept by the Supreme Comander of all SS forces Italy Karl Wolff at his residency of the Castle Dornsberg, near Merano, South Tyrol before being sent to Germany. The paintings were found on Dec. 3, 2014 in Milan. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) An Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer stands next to a painting "Circumcision of Jesus at Temple", attributed to early Renaissance painter Girolamo dai Libri, during a press conference on recovered paintings seized by the Nazis in 1944 in Camaiore near Lucca, Italy, at the Brera Art Gallery, in Milan, Italy, Monday, April 18, 2016. The paintings were seized from the Italian villa of Prince Felix Bourbon-Parma, then Prince of Luxembourg, and kept by the Supreme Comander of all SS forces Italy Karl Wolff at his residency of the Castle Dornsberg, near Merano, South Tyrol before being sent to Germany. The paintings were found on Dec. 3, 2014 in Milan. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

By Associated Press April 18, 2016 1 min read

MILAN (AP) – Italian authorities have recovered three 15th_century paintings seized from an Italian-Luxembourg noble family during World War II.

Authorities on Monday unveiled the paintings, all by little-known artists, at the Brera Art Gallery in Milan, where they are currently housed.

The works were among property seized from the Borbone-Parma family after Italy entered World War II, making Luxembourg an enemy state and allowing seizure of properties under wartime law. Many of the family’s treasures were recovered by the U.S. military after the war, but not these paintings.

Investigators for the Carabinieri state police unit charged with protecting cultural heritage only recently traced the works to two families in Milan who had inherited them. The works, which have not been valued, are in state custody after no living descendants could be traced.