The 17th-century painting ‘The Return of the Holy Family from the Flight into Egypt’ by Jacob Jordaens, which was stolen by the Nazis in 1940, was returned to the descendants of its rightful owners on Wednesday. The painting has an estimated value of €800,000.
In 1940, resistance fighter Joseph Scheppers de Bergstein was captured by Nazis and transferred to the Buchenwald camp (in Germany). His home, the Emmaüs castle in the Flemish city of Mechelen, was occupied by the Nazis and much of the contents were looted or burned.
Shortly after the end of the war, Joseph's son Gaëtan reported the theft to the Economic Recovery Service, which later put the painting in the Federal Public Economy Department's online database lootedart.belgium.be.
In 2022, the painting was found in the basement of a Dutchman who had gone to live in Ardèche (south of France) and died. He had always suspected it was looted art, and a few years before his death confided in his nephew about the painting's existence.
Michel Scheppers de Bergstein, Maxilimien Scheppers de Bergstein, Philippe Scheppers de Bergstein, Elisabeth van Nieuwland and Bart van Nieuwland. Credit: Belga/Katleen Vastiau
After his death, the man's sister inherited his assets, including the painting, and her son Bart van Nieuwland made every effort to return it to its rightful owners.
"My uncle had told me years earlier that he had a painting in his possession that might have been stolen, so after his death, we actively started looking for it," said van Nieuwland. "In a false ceiling of the basement, we found the work."
He had no idea of the painting's value so he took it to Dutch art dealer Art Dumay. "Together we discovered that it was a genuine Jordaens and that it was on the list of stolen works of art."
Family left its mark
The descendants of Joseph Scheppers de Bergstein were contacted and the artwork was thoroughly restored, allowing it to be returned 80 years after the theft. During the ceremony at the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen, the path followed by the Economy Department to track down the rightful owners became clear.
During the Second World War, the Dossin Barracks were used as a transit camp by the Nazi occupiers to send arrested Jews and Romani to concentration camps.
As Scheppers de Bergstein was not a Jew but rather a resistance fighter who suffered a similar fate as Jews during the war, the Barracks are not directly linked to the story.
The 'Return of the Holy Family from the Flight into Egypt' painting by Jacob Jordaens, stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War from the home of resistance fighter and Nazi victim Joseph Scheppers de Bergstein. Credit: Belga/Katleen Vastiau
However, his family left its mark on the wider Mechelen region: Joseph's father was mayor of Heindonk, now part of Willebroek, for 25 years. Additionally, several members of the family were councillors in the city of Mechelen.
Monsignor Viktor Scheppers was the founder of the famous Scheppers Institute in Mechelen. Three grandsons of Joseph – Michel, Philippe and Maximilien – received the painting on behalf of their family.
