Lost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources or material evidence indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections, as well as works known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.
The Art Loss Register is a commercial computerized international database which captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables. It is operated by a commercial company based in London.
In the U.S., the FBI maintains the National Stolen Art File, "a database of stolen art and cultural property. Stolen objects are submitted for entry to the NSAF by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad."[3]
A number of search and recovery efforts were created in response to major loss events, notably:
This section lists articles or article sections on lost works.
Artist and work | Creation date(s) (est.) | Year lost (est.) | Loss event | Commission, provenance, documentation and surviving copies notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phidias Athena Parthenos | 447 BCE | 950 | Originally in the Parthenon. Replicas and other works inspired by the original. | |
Lysippus Agias bronze | 399-400 BCE | Marble copy found and preserved in Delphi | ||
Lysippus Eros Stringing the Bow bronze | 399-400 BCE | Various copies exist | ||
Lysippus Alexander the Great bronzes | 356-323 BCE | |||
Lysippus Oil Pourer bronze | 340-330 BCE | Roman marble copies | ||
Lysippus Hercules bronze | 340-330 BCE | Marble copy by Glykon | ||
Lysippus Apoxyomenos bronze | 330 BCE | Multiple marble copies | ||
Saint Luke Hodegetria | 60-84 AD | 1261 | Many copies exist. | |
Giotto Madonna panel | 1297-1337 | 1406- | Bequeathed by Petrarch to Francesca da Carrara, lord of Padua, in 1370 | |
Scolland/Lanfranc (attrib.), embroiderers Bayeux Tapestry, portions | 1070-1079 | 1137-(?) | Estate dispersal[a] | Possibly in possession of Adela of Normandy |
Duccio Virgin of the Assumption | 1308 | 1771 | Dismantled | Panel of the Maestà altarpiece |
Duccio Ascension of Christ | 1308 | 1771 | Dismantled | Panel of the Maestà altarpiece |
Duccio Christ in Majesty | 1308 | 1771 | Dismantled | Panel of the Maestà altarpiece |
Giotto Stories of the Apostles frescoes | 1314-1328 | 1700-1799 | Whitewashed | For the Giugni Chapel of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence |
Martini, Simone Laura (Laura de Noves) | 1327-1344 | Portrait is the subject of Sonnets 77 and 78, Rime sparse (1372) by Petrarch | ||
Giotto Commune of Florence allegorical fresco | 1328-1337 | Palazzo del Podestà. Vasari described a seated judge with sceptre, flanked by figures of Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. | ||
Van Eyck Woman Bathing | 1420-1430 | 1628- | Depicted in Willem van Haecht's Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest; it or a copy was in Antwerp in 1628 | |
Fra Angelico Painted Crucifix | 1423 | For the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence | ||
Van Eyck The Just Judges | 1430-1432 | 1934 | Ghent Altarpiece theft | Ghent Altarpiece panel. A photograph of the original and copies exist. |
Grenier, Jean (produced through) Great History of Troy tapestries | 1488 | 1829 | Renovation sale | In the Painted Chamber from 1490 to 1799. John Carter produced watercolor sketches of the tapestries in the 1790s. In possession of Mr Teschemacher in 1829. |
Lombardo, Tullio Eve | 1490 | 1819 | Lost when the Vendramin tomb was moved to Santi Giovanni e Paolo.[b] | |
Giorgione The Birth of Paris | 1492-1510 | 1650- | Copied by David Teniers the Younger. Fragment of two shepherds may survive at Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest). | |
Carpaccio The Trial of Saint Stephen | 1511-1520 | 1806 | Napoleonic looting | Scuola di San Stefano, Venice.[c] A drawing for the modello survives in the Uffizi |
da Vinci Medusa (unfinished) | <1500 | 1553-1599 | Collection of Cosimo I | |
da Vinci Leda and the Swan | 1508 | 1625- | Disappeared from Fontainebleau. Wilton House has a copy by Cesare da Sesto. | |
da Vinci The Battle of Anghiari | 1505 | 1555-1572 | Renovation | Palazzo Vecchio. Central section copied by Rubens |
Correggio Albinea Madonna | 1517-1519 | 1657- | Collection of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor | |
Michelangelo Leda and the Swan | 1530 | Gifted to Antonio Mini, taken to France then disappeared. Engraved by Cornelis Vos in 1537 | ||
Michelangelo Hercules marble | 1492-1494 | 1713-1733 | Renovation | Disappeared during the destruction of the Jardin de l'Etange at Fontainebleau. |
Michelangelo David resting his foot on the severed head of Goliath bronze | 1502-1508 | 1794-1795 | French Revolution | Chateau de Villeroy (destroyed in the early 19th century) |
Raphael Portrait of a Young Man | 1513-1514 | 1939 | Nazi plunder | |
Raphael Saint Catherine of Alexandria | 1655- | English Civil War / Estate dispersal | Collection of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. Engraved by Wenceslas Hollar | |
Vincidor, Tommaso Portrait of Albrecht Dürer in Black Hat and Cloak | 1520 | Depicted in the 17th-century gallery of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haecht | ||
Cellini The Wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite silver bowl | 1796 | Napoleonic looting or reparations | Taken from the Chapter of the Basilica of Santa Barbara, Modena | |
Brueghel the Elder Market Day | Depicted in the 17th-century gallery of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haecht | |||
Titian Portrait of Isabella d'Este in Red | 1524-1536 | 1640- | Estate dispersal | A copy by Rubens is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
Titian Venus in Front of her Mirror | 1555-1576 | 1800-1899 | Spanish royal collection. A copy by Rubens survives[9] | |
Vasari or Bronzino Portrait of Bianca Cappello | 1572- | 1842 | Estate dispersal | Purchased from Vitelli palace and gifted to Horace Walpole in 1754. Auctioned from Strawberry Hill House in 1842 (Lot 92, 20th day) |
Carracci Christ head | 1580-1609 | 1945 | World War II | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden |
Lorrain, Claude Aeneas and the Sibyl of Cumae | 1666-1673 | Collection of Prince Falconieri.[d] Liber Veritatis 183 | ||
Rubens Judith Beheading Holofernes | 1609 | Known only though the 1610 engraving by Cornelis Galle the Elder | ||
Rubens Susannah and the Elders | 1617-1618 | Engraved 1620 by Lucas Vosterman | ||
Rubens Satyr, Nymph, Putti and Leopards | 1618 | Now known only from engraving | ||
Rubens Equestrian Portrait of the Archduke Albert | ||||
Van Dyck Portrait of Jules Mazarin before his appointment as Cardinal | 1641 | 1652 | The Fronde | Sold by the Tribunal of Paris in early 1652 |
Poussin Women Bathing | 1633-1634 | Luigi Omodei (1607-1685) collection.[e][10] | ||
Rembrandt The Circumcision | 1646 | 1700-1799 | Collection of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum has a presumptive copy. | |
Vermeer Gentleman washing his hands in a perspectival room with figures, artful and rare | 1653-75 | 1696- | Last known at the Dissius auction, Holland, sold for 95 guilders | |
Gerard Dou The Nursery | 1660s | 1771 | Vrouw Maria sinking | Acquired by Catherine the Great |
Caravaggio A portrait of Alof de Wignacourt | ||||
Caravaggio Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence | 1609 | 1969 | Stolen | Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo |
Velasquez The Jester Francesco de Ochoa | 1633-1640 | 1701- | Queen's quarters, Buen Retiro Palace | |
Velasquez Cardenas the Toreador | 1633-1640 | 1701- | Queen's quarters, Buen Retiro Palace | |
Velasquez Pelican with Bucket and Donkeys | 1623-1635 | 1701- | Buen Retiro Palace | |
Reni, Guido Bacchus from Bacchus and Ariadne ceiling painting | 1638-40 | 1650 | Disassembled | Henrietta Maria of France then Michel Particelli d'Emery collection, cut to pieces for easier sale by his estate.[11] Ariadne was rediscovered in 2002. |
Oudry, Jean-Baptiste The White Duck | 1753 | 1990 | Houghton Hall theft | |
Watteau Autumn | 1717-1718 | 1820- | Pierre Crozat collection. Engraved in the Recueil Jullienne.[f] | |
Watteau Winter | 1717-1718 | 1920- | Pierre Crozat collection. Engraved in the Recueil Jullienne.[g] | |
Oudry, Jean-Baptiste Jay and Oriole Hung by the Feet | Exhibited at the Salon of 1751 | |||
Tiepolo, Gianbattista Mars Resting ceiling painting | 1762-1768 | 1941 | World War II | Rinaldi's Chinese palace, Oranienbaum. Sent to Pavlovsk for safety, vanished |
David Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau on his Death Bed | 1793 | Exhibited with David's Marat in the courtyard of the Louvre, 16 October 1793. An engraving by Anatole Desvoges exists | ||
Blake A Vision of the Last Judgment | 1808 | Earlier versions and sketches survive, but the final version has not been seen since the cancellation of an 1810 exhibit it was to have been part of | ||
Turner Aeneas Relating his Story to Dido | 1850 | |||
Banvard, John Mississippi River Panorama | 1840-1846 | 1850-1899 | Cut into pieces | |
Renoir Summer Evening | 1864 | 1865 | Paris Salon | |
Renoir Landscape with two people | 1866 | 1939-1945 | Nazi Plunder and Soviet looting | Depicted in Bazille's Studio. Lower half survives as Woman with a Bird |
Monet La Sortie du port | 1867-1868 | Smaller studies and sketches for the now lost painting survive as The Entrance to the Port of Le Havre held by the Norton Simon Museum. | ||
Cézanne View of Auvers-sur-Oise | 1873-1875 | 1999 | Ashmolean Museum theft | |
Bracquemond, Marie Les Muses des arts | 1878 | 1919- | Last reported location was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1919 | |
Bracquemond, Marie The Swallow | 1880 | |||
Vereshchagin, Vasily Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English | 1884 | 1891- | Sold in New York to an unknown buyer | |
Hirémy-Hirschl, Adolf The Plague in Rome | 1884 | |||
Van Gogh The Lovers: The Poet's Garden IV | 1888 | 1937 | Nazi plunder | Declared degenerate and confiscated |
Saint-Gaudens Diana bronze sculpture (first version) | 1891-1892 | Designed to crown the Madison Square Garden tower. Replaced by the artist with a lighter, smaller copper version | ||
Cassatt Modern Woman tympanum mural | 1892 | 1893- | Institutional neglect | Over Women's Building entrance, World's Columbian Exposition |
Fabergé Hen with Sapphire Pendant | 1886 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Fabergé Cherub with Chariot | 1888 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Fabergé Necessaire egg | 1889 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Fabergé Mauve egg | 1898 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Jovanović, Paja Furor Teutonicus monumental painting | 1899 | 1911-1939 | Institutional neglect | Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts. Belgrade City Museum has a heliogravure copy and sketch in oils.[12] |
Fabergé Royal Danish Egg | 1903 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Fabergé Alexander III Commemorative Egg | 1909 | 1922 | Russian Revolution | |
Metzinger, Jean Nu à la cheminée | 1910 | Black & white images survive | ||
Metzinger, Jean Man with a Pipe | 1911-1912 | 1998 | Missing from Lawrence University since 1998, having disappeared while in transit on loan.[13] Images survive | |
Gleizes, Albert Paysage près de Paris (Landschaft bei Paris) | 1912 | 1937 | Nazi plunder[14][15] | Black & white image survive |
Metzinger, Jean En Canot | 1913 | 1938- | Nazi plunder | Displayed at the Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich and other cities, 1937-1938, confiscated.[16] Black & white images survive |
Dix The Trench | 1936 | 1937[17] | Nazi Plunder | |
Bacon Study after Velázquez III | 1950-1953 | 1953- | Third in a series of portraits after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650. [18][h] | |
Duchamp Fountain (Duchamp) | 1917 | 1918 | Black & white images survive, as do sixteen artist-sanctioned replicas | |
Kapoor, Anish Hole and Vessel wood and cement sculpture | 1984 | 2004 | Probably stolen | Discovered missing from its storage unit |
Serra Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi a 38-ton metal sculpture | 1986 | 2006 | Possibly theft | Formerly displayed at the Reina Sofia museum. Could not be located in 2006[19][20] |
Artist and work | Creation date(s) (est.) | Year lost (est.) | Year found | Loss event and recovery |
---|---|---|---|---|
Agesander/Athenodoros/Polydorus Laocoön and His Sons | 27 BC-68 AD | 1506-1906 | Destruction of Emperor Titus' palace; recovered during vineyard excavations.[i] | |
Caravaggio The Taking of Christ | 1602 | 1802 | 1990 | Misattribution by heirs of Ciriaco Mattei |
Bacon Study after Velázquez II | 1950–53 | 1953 | 1999 | Thought destroyed by the artist[18] |
Bacon Study after Velázquez I | 1950–53 | 1953 | 1999 | Thought destroyed by the artist[18] |
Courbet Femme nue couchée | 1862 | 1945 | 2000 | Soviet looting of Budapest |
Cimabue Virgin and Child with Two Angels | 1280-89 | 1800-99 | 2000 | Possibly Napoleonic looting of art |
Reni, Guido Ariadne from Bacchus and Ariadne ceiling painting | 1638-40 | 1650 | 2002 | Disassembled for easier sale by the estate of Michel Particelli d'Emery.[21] A fragment at Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna recognized as the lost Ariadne by Andrea Emiliani and Sir Denis Mahon |
Giovane, Palma Francesco St Jerome | 1595 | 1750–99 | 2008 | |
Delaroche Charles I Insulted by Cromwell's Soldiers | 1836 | 1941 | 2009 | Thought destroyed in the Bridgewater House bombing in WWII but found in Scotland rolled up with only some shrapnel damage. |
Bereny, Robert Sleeping Lady with Black Vase | 1920 | 1929 | 2009[22] | Spotted as a prop in the film Stuart Little |
Monet Beach in Pourville | 1882 | 2000 | 2010 | National Museum, Poznań theft |
Van Dyck Magistrate of Brussels oil sketch | 1634 | 1695 | 2012 | Overpainting |
Fabergé Third Imperial Egg | 1887 | 1922 | 2012 | Russian Revolution |
Gauguin Fruits on a table or still life with a small dog | 1889 | 1970 | 2014[23] | Terrence Kennedy residence, London, theft |
Caravaggio Judith Beheading Holofernes | 1604-05[24] | 1700[25] | 2014[24] | |
Van Gogh Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather | 1882 | 2002 | 2016[26] | 2002 Van Gogh Museum theft |
Van Gogh Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen | 1884 | 2002 | 2016[26] | 2002 Van Gogh Museum theft |
Cimabue The Mocking of Christ | 1280-89 | 1800-99 | 2019 | Possibly Napoleonic looting of art |
Picasso Head of a Woman | 1939 | 2012 | 2021[27] | 2012 Athens National Gallery theft |
Mondrian Stammer Windmill | 1905 | 2012 | 2021[27] | 2012 Athens National Gallery theft |
Artist and work | Creation date(s) (est.) | Year lost (est.) | Loss event | Commission, provenance, documentation and surviving copies |
---|---|---|---|---|
Polygnotus Sack of Troy | 475-425 BCE | Lesche of the Knidians. Pausanias in Description of Greece, Chapter X | ||
Polygnotus Odysseus in the Underworld | 475-425 BCE | Lesche of the Knidians. Pausanias in Description of Greece, Chapter X | ||
Phidias Lemnian Athena bronze | 450-440 BCE | Parthenon | ||
Zeuxis Female Centaur Nursing a Pair of Twins | 450-400 BCE | 86 BCE | Antikythera wreck | Looted by Roman General Sulla in the First Mithridatic War |
Phidias Statue of Zeus at Olympia | 435 BCE | 448 | Lauseion fire[a] | |
Lysippus Seated Herakles colossal bronze | 399-400 BCE | 1204 | Fourth Crusade | Taras Acropolis, then the Capitoline Hill,[j] then the Constantinople Hippodrome |
Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos marble | 365 BCE | 306-95 | Persecution of pagans[a] | Temple of Aphrodite, Knidos.[k] Iris Love found statue fragments in 1970. |
Chares of Lindos Colossus of Rhodes | 292-280 BCE | 226 BCE | Rhodes earthquake | |
Regisole | 193-526 | 1796 | Jacobin vandalism[l] | Erected at Ravenna. Moved to Pavia in the Middle Ages.[m] |
Portraits of western and eastern imperial family members mosaic | 425 | 1747 | Rebuilding | San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna[n] |
Portrait of the bishop of Ravenna mosaic | 425 | 1747 | Rebuilding | San Giovanni Evangelista, Ravenna[n] |
Buddhas of Bamyan | 500-99 | 2001 | Taliban iconoclasm | |
Icon of Christ Chalkites | 600 | 726-30 | Byzantine Iconoclasm | Copies exist. |
Cavallini, Pietro Stories from the New and Old Testament fresco cycles | 1277-85 | 1823 | Fire | Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls[28] |
Cimabue Diptych of Devotion panels | 1280-89 | |||
Giotto Navicella mosaic | 1305-13 | 1650 | Reconstruction | Outside Old Saint Peter's Basilica. Copies and drawings exist. Replicated. |
Guariento Paradise | 1338-70 | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | Doge's Palace |
Monaco, Lorenzo Virgin Enthroned with Saints and Angels | 1420 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
da Fabriano, Gentile Various works | 1405-27 | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | Doge's Palace |
Donatello Joshua terra cotta | 1410 | 1750 | Disintegrated | North tribune of the Duomo of Florence |
Pisanello Various works | 1415-55 | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | Doge's Palace |
Pisanello Hunting scenes frescoes | 1424-40 | 1527 | War of the League of Cognac | Visconti Castle for Filippo Maria Visconti |
Pisanello Saint George Sheathing his Sword fresco | 1433-38 | 1826 | Water damage | Pellegrini chapel, Sant'Anastasia, Verona[29] |
Masaccio Sagra del Carmine fresco | 1422 | 1600 | Renovation | Cloister of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence |
Uccello, Paolo Saint Peter Blessing mosaic | 1425-30 | 1618 | Renovation[o] | Basilica of San Marco façade |
Lippi, Filippo Bestowal of the Carmelite Rule fresco | 1425-69 | 1771 | Fire and Flood | Cloister of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. Fragments survive in place[p][30] |
da Fabriano, Gentile and Pisanello Frescoes | 1427/28 | 1647 | Reconstruction | Basilica of Saint John Lateran |
Donatello Abundance | 1428 | 1750 | Weathering | Baptistery of the Duomo, later Mercato Vecchio. Copied in terra cotta[q][31] |
da Panicale, Masolino and Uccello Illustrious Men fresco cycle | 1432 | For the Palace of Cardinal Orsini in Rome. A watercolor copy by Leonardo da Besozzo survives | ||
van der Weyden The Justice of Trajan and Herkinbald | 1439 | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Brussels Town Hall.[r] Bern Historical Museum has tapestry copies.[s][32] |
del Castagno, Andrea Flagellation fresco | 1440-57 | 1650 | Cloister of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence | |
Van Eyck Madonna of Nicolas van Maelbeke | 1441 | 1792–1815 | French occupation of The Netherlands | St Martin's Cathedral. Copy in Germanisches Nationalmuseum. |
Christus, Petrus (attributed) Crucifixion | 1444 | 1942 | World War II | Dessau Palace/Palais Reina. Black and white photograph survives. |
Veneziano, Domenico and del Castagno, Andrea Life of the Virgin frescoes | 1450-52 | 1594 | In the church of Sant' Egidio (Santa Maria Nuova), Florence | |
Mantegna Lives of Saint James and Saint Christopher frescoes | 1450-57 | 1944 | World War II | Ovetari Chapel.[t] Photographs survive. |
da Messina, Antonello Scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas altarpiece | 1450-76 | 1908 | Messina earthquake | For the Confraternity of San Nicolò della Montagna in Messina, seen by Cavalcaselle in 1871[33] |
Fra Angelico, school of Last Judgment | 1456 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
della Francesca, Piero Frescoes | 1456 | Destroyed?[u] | ||
Foppa, Vincenzo Triumph of Trajan fresco | 1456-1500 | 1863 | Demolition | Done for the Medici bank in the Via de' Bossi, Milan.[34] A fragment survives in the Wallace Collection, London |
Mantegna Lamentation of the People over the Dead Gattamelata | 1457-60 | 1760 | Palazzo Gattamelata, Padua. A related drawing is in The Wallace Collection, London | |
Perugino Adoration of the Magi fresco | 1466-80 | 1529 | Siege of Florence | For the convent of S. Giusto alle Mura[35] |
Botticelli Paintings on "pagan" subjects | 1470-92 | 1497 | Bonfire of the Vanities | |
Bellini, Giovanni Saint Catherine of Siena Altarpiece (Sacra Conversazione) | 1470-1500 | 1867 | Chapel of the Rosary of the Church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice | |
Signorelli, Luca The Court of Pan (The School of Pan) | 1472-74 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | Painted c. 1490 at the request of Lorenzo de' Medici.[36] Black and white photo and reconstruction drawing (2021) by Olivier Maceratesi |
Signorelli, Luca Madonna and Saints fresco | 1474 | 1789 | In the Tower of Città di Castello | |
Vivarini, Alvise Otho Promising to Mediate Between Venice and Barbarossa | 1476-1500 | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | Doge's Palace |
Botticelli Piero di Cosimo de' Medici | 1478 | 1942 | World War II | Formerly Museo Civico Gaetano Filangieri, Naples. Photographs survive |
Botticelli Frescoes depicting the criminal conspirators of the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici | 1478 | 1494 | Removed | Painted either in the Bargello or the Dogana in Florence. At the instigation of Pope Alexander VI after the fall of the Medicis |
da Forlì, Melozzo Ascension with Christ in Glory fresco | 1478-80 | 1711 | Renovation | For the choir of the Church of the Santi Apostoli, Rome. Fragments survive in the Vatican and Quirinal |
da Forlì, Melozzo Feo Chapel vault fresco | 1478-80 | 1945 | World War II | For the San Biagio Church in Forlì. Graphical notes by Girolamo Reggiani (1831) Black and White photo (1944) and color reconstruction drawing (2020) by Olivier Maceratesi |
da Vinci Leonardo's horse terracotta model | 1482 | 1499 | French invasion of Milan | |
Costa, Lorenzo Destruction of Troy fresco | 1483 | 1507 | Destroyed with the palace by a mob[37] | For the loggia of the Bentivoglio Palace, Bologna. Fragment survives in the Pinacoteca Nazionale |
Vivarini, Alvise Altarpiece for the church of Santa Maria dei Battuti in Belluno | 1485 | 1942-45 | World War II | |
Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi and Perugino Frescoes on mythological themes, including the Forge of Vulcan | 1487-90 | 1825 | Water damage then fire[v] | For Lorenzo de' Medici in the great hall and external loggia of his villa at Spedaletto, near Volterra |
Mantegna Baptism of Christ fresco | 1488 | 1780 | Redevelopment | Belvedere Chapel of the Vatican. Destroyed at the construction of the Pio-Clementino Museum |
Bellini, Giovanni The Supper at Emmaus | 1494 | 1750 | Fire in Vienna in the 18th century | Painted for Giorgio Cornaro of Venice |
Ghirlandaio, Domenico Virgin and Child in Glory with Saints John the Evangelist, Francis, Jerome and John the Baptist | 1496 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | In the Church of San Francesco in San Casciano, Val di Pesa until 1810. |
Fra Bartolomeo Assumption of the Virgin | 1507-08 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Michelangelo Battle of Cascina cartoon | Putatively destroyed by Bandinelli | Palazzo Vecchio | ||
Michelangelo Cupid marble | 1698 | Palace of Whitehall fire | Owned by Isabella d'Este and Charles I of England | |
Caravaggio Portrait of a Courtesan | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | Formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin | |
Michelangelo Pope Julius II in the act of blessing bronze | 1511 | Destroyed by the people of Bologna | On San Petronio basilica's facade in Bologna | |
Correggio The Coronation of the Virgin fresco | 1587 | Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma. Fragments in National Gallery, London, other museums | ||
Correggio Saint Mary Magdalen in the Desert fresco | 1555 | Destruction of Palazzo della Delizie | Painted for Veronica Gambara's Palazzo della Delizie, in the town of Correggio. Described in a letter dated Sept. 3, 1528 from Veronica Gambara to Isabella d’Este[39] | |
Correggio Magdalen in the Desert | 1945- | World War II | Dresden | |
Raphael Crowning of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino | 1700–99 | Earthquake | Raphael's first recorded commission, it was made for Andrea Baronci's chapel in the church of Sant'Agostino in Citta di Castello, near Urbino At least four fragments survive (Louvre, Capodimonte) | |
Dürer Ascension of Mary altarpiece | 1729 | Fire | The central panel added to the collection of Elector Maximilian of Bavaria. A 1615 copy of the entire altarpiece by Jobst Harrich of Nuremberg survives | |
Huber, Wolf Portrait of an Architect (Self-Portrait?) | 1529 | 1947 | Fire at the Musée de Beaux Arts, Strasbourg, August 13, 1947 (one of 30 paintings destroyed) | |
Cranach the Elder Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Cranach the Elder Virgin and Child with Four Female Saints | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Cranach the Elder Madonna and Child with Infant Saint John | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Cranach the Elder Duke Henry of Saxony | 1945 | Bombing of Dresden | ||
Brueghel the Elder The Farmers Brawl | 1945 | Bombing of Dresden | Engraved by Lucas Vosterman, c. 1620 | |
Holbein Henry VIII and family mural | 1698 | Palace of Whitehall fire | In Whitehall Palace, London | |
Holbein Sir Thomas More and Family | 1752 | Kroměříž Palace fire[40] | ||
Titian Battle of Spoleto | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Titian Battle of Cadore | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Titian Doge Gritti Praying to the Virgin | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Tintoretto Coronation of Frederick Barbarossa | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Tintoretto Excommunication of Barbarossa | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Tintoretto Last Judgment | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Veronese Homage of Frederick Barbarossa | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
da Fabriano, Gentile Works | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Pisanello Works | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Carpaccio Pope Alexander III in the Church of St. Marks | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Carpaccio Meeting of the Pope and the Doge at Ancona | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Vivarini, Alvise Otho Promising to Mediate Between Venice and Barbarossa | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Guariento Paradise | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Bellini Battle of Salvore | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Bellini Presentation of the White Candle to the Pope | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
Bellini Presentation of the Eight Standards and Trumpets to the Doge | 1577 | Doge's Palace fire | ||
del Vaga Christ at the Pool of Bethesda fresco | 1537–39 | 1850s | Renovation | Massimi Chapel, Santa Trinità dei Monti. [w] |
del Vaga Christ and the Centurion fresco | 1537–39 | 1850s | Renovation | Massimi Chapel, Santa Trinità dei Monti.[w] |
del Vaga The Transfiguration fresco | 1537–39 | 1850s | Renovation | Massimi Chapel, Santa Trinità dei Monti.[w] |
del Vaga The Expulsion from the Temple fresco | 1537–39 | 1850s | Renovation | Massimi Chapel, Santa Trinità dei Monti. [w] |
Titian Death of St Peter Martyr | 1867 | Fire | For the Chapel of the Rosary, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. Copies and engravings survive | |
Titian Double Portrait of Emperor Charles V and his wife Isabella of Portugal | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | A copy by Rubens survives | |
Titian Penitent Magdalene | 1561 | 1873 | Fire at Bath House, London, January 21 | Painted for Philip II of Spain |
Titian Ixion and Tantalus | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | ||
Titian Paintings of The Twelve Caesars | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | ||
Palladio or Giorgio Capobianco The Jewel of Vicenza | 1578 | 1797 | Destroyed by the Napoleonic army when they tried to melt it down for silver | Created as an ex-voto and financed by donations from the city of Vicenza. A silver reconstruction was made in 2012–2013 |
Veronese Apollo and Juno | 1580 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | Painted for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice |
Veronese Saturn Helps Religion to Overcome Heresy | 1580 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | Painted for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice |
Pontormo God the Father and the Four Evangelists fresco | 1700–99 | Remodeling | Capponi Chapel, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence | |
Pontormo Last Judgment | 1700–99 | Renovations | Unfinished fresco at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence | |
Caravaggio Portrait of a Courtesan, aka Fillide Melandroni | 1597-1599 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Vroom, Hendrick The Armada Tapestries | 1602 | 1834 | Burning of Parliament[41] | For Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham; sold to James I, 1616 and placed in the House of Lords, London by Oliver Cromwell, 1650. Engraved by John Pine, 1739[42] |
da Bologna, Giovanni Henry IV of France equestrian bronze | 1614 | 1789–99 | Scrapped | Presented to Marie de Medicis by Cosimo II. Melted for cannon (French Revolution). |
Poussin The Martyrdom of Erasmus | 1630 | 1945 | Bombing of Dresden | |
Poussin Penance, one of the seven Sacraments | 1637–1640 | 1816 | Belvoir Castle fire | |
Lorrain, Claude Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus | 1658 | 1755 | Fonthill Abbey fire[43] | A fragment in the collection of the Earl of Leicester, Holkham Hall |
Lorrain, Claude Apollo Guarding the Herds of Admetus and Mercury Stealing Them | 1660–1673 | 1871 | Holker Hall fire[4] | |
Rubens The Crucifixion | 1601–02 | 1820- | Lost at sea | Painted for the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome.[44] Imported to England 1811; there auctioned 1812, 1820 |
Rubens Madonna of the Rosary | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Painted for the Royal Chapel of the Dominican Church, Brussels | |
Rubens Virgin Adorned with Flowers by Saint Anne | 1610 | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Painted for the Church of the Carmelite Friars, Brussels |
Rubens Saint Job Triptych | 1613 | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Painted for Saint Nicholas Church, Brussels |
Rubens Cambyses Appointing Otanes Judge | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels | |
Rubens Judgment of Solomon | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels | |
Rubens Last Judgment | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels | |
Rubens Neptune and Amphitrite | 1615 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Rubens Nativity | 1731 | Coudenberg Palace fire | ||
Rubens Adoration of the Magi | 1731 | Coudenberg Palace fire | ||
Rubens Pentecost | 1731 | Coudenberg Palace fire | ||
Rubens The Abduction of Proserpine | 1861 | Fire at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, February 5, 1861[45] | Engraved before 1621 by Pieter Soutman | |
Rubens Crucifixion with Mary, St. John, Magdalen | 1622 | 1643 | English Civil War | In the Queen's Chapel, Somerset House, London, 1643[46] |
Rubens Portrait of Philip IV of Spain | 1628 | 1985 | Incendiary attack at the Kunsthaus, Zurich, in 1985[47] | |
Rubens Diana and Nymphs Surprised by Satyrs | 1635–1638 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Rubens Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV of Spain | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | A copy is in the Uffizi Gallery | |
Rubens The Continence of Scipio | 1836 | Western Exchange Fire | In the Western Exchange, Old Bond Street, London, March 1836[48] | |
Rubens The Lion Hunt | 1870 | Fire at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux[49] | Removed by Napoleon's agents from Schloss Schleissheim, near Munich, 1800 | |
Rubens Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Buckingham | 1949 | Fire[50] | Owned by the Earl of Jersey at Osterley Park | |
Van Dyck and Rubens Series of 39 ceiling paintings for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp (nl:Carolus Borromeuskerk#Branden, Dutch wiki) | 1718 | Fire | Engravings by Jan Punt (Amsterdam 1751) of 31 of the paintings from drawings executed 1711-12 by Jacob de Wit exist[51] | |
Rubens and Brueghel the Elder Vision of Saint Hubert | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Brueghel the Elder and other artists Allegories of Sight and Smell | 1731 | Coudenberg Palace fire | Bought (with the following entry) by the City of Antwerp and hung in audience hall, Tervuren Castle 1619[52] | |
Brueghel the Elder and other artists Allegories of Hearing, Taste and Touch | 1731 | Coudenberg Palace fire | ||
Van Dyck Group Portrait of the Town Council of Brussels | 1634-35 | 1695 | Bombardment of Brussels | |
Van Dyck Christ Crowned with Thorns | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Van Dyck Lamentation over Christ | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Van Dyck Nymphs Surprised by Satyrs | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
Van Dyck Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | ||
van Honthorst, Gerrit Adoration of the Shepherds (Birth of Christ) | 1993 | Uffizi car bombing | ||
de Keyser, Thomas Six Gold and Silver Smiths (The "Bankers of Amsterdam") | 1627 | 1947 | Fire at the Musée de Beaux Arts, Strasbourg, August 13, 1947[53] (one of 30 paintings destroyed) | |
van Ruisdael, Jacob Bentheim Castle with Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus | 1864 | Museum Boymans fire | ||
van Ruisdael, Jacob The Windmill | 1871 | Holker Hall fire[54] | ||
Fabritius, Carel Large family portrait | 1864 | Museum Boymans fire | ||
Cuyp, Aelbert Sleeping Man | 1864 | Museum Boymans fire | ||
Steen, Jan Tobias Healing His Father | 1864 | Museum Boymans fire[55] | ||
Potter, Paulus White Ox in a Field | 1864 | Museum Boymans fire | ||
Potter, Paulus Large Herd of Oxen | 1771 | Vrouw Maria sinking[56] | Purchased for Fl. 9050, Braamcamp sale, Amsterdam, 1771 by agents of Catherine the Great. | |
Caravaggio The Inspiration of Matthew first version | 1601 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Caravaggio Christ on the Mount of Olives | 1605 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | From the collection of Vincenzo Giustiniani |
Caravaggio Saint John | 1798 | Earthquake | Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples | |
Caravaggio Saint Francis | 1798 | Earthquake | Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples | |
Caravaggio Resurrection | 1798 | Earthquake | Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples. A 1763 description by Charles-Nicolas Cochin[57] survives. | |
Gentileschi, Orazio The Conversion of Saint Paul altarpiece | 1823 | Fire | Done for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome | |
Fontana, Lavinia The Stoning of Saint Stephen altarpiece | 1823 | Fire | Done for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome | |
Gentileschi, Artemisia Hercules and Omphale | 1628 | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | Painted for Philip IV of Spain |
Gentileschi, Artemisia Bathsheba | 1650–1652 | 1940 | Fire at Gosford House, Scotland[58] | |
Manfredi, Bartolomeo La Buonavventura | 1993 | Uffizi car bombing | ||
Manfredi, Bartolomeo Ciclo Vito | 1993 | Uffizi car bombing | ||
Carracci, Annibale Danae | 1941 | The Blitz (Bridgewater House bombing) | Ellesmere collection | |
Carracci, Annibale Saint Gregory Praying for Souls in Purgatory, altarpiece | 1600 | 1941 | The Blitz (Bridgewater House bombing) | Church of San Gregorio Magno, Rome; then Ellesmere collection |
Carracci, Ludovico Descent from the Cross | 1941 | The Blitz (Bridgewater House bombing) | Ellesmere collection | |
Reni, Guido Immaculate Conception | 1941 | World War II | Formerly Seville Cathedral, Spain, later in the Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, Westminster, London | |
Bernini Bust of King Charles I (Bernini) | 1698 | Palace of Whitehall fire | ||
Bernini Crucified Christ in bronze | 1789–99 | French Revolution | Formerly in the French royal collection | |
Velasquez Expulsion of the Moors with Philip III | 1627 | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | |
Velasquez Venus and Adonis | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | ||
Velasquez Cupid and Psyche | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | ||
Velasquez Apollo and Marsyas | 1734 | Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire | ||
Zurbarán Saint Bonaventure Reveals the Crucifix to Saint Thomas Aquinas | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | Commissioned by the Colegio de San Buenaventura, Seville. Taken from Spain by Marshal Soult | |
Murillo Caritas Romana (Roman Charity) | 1845 | Fire | Taken from Spain by Joseph Bonaparte and sold to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art | |
Giordano, Luca The Labors of Hercules sixteen frescoes | 1692–1702 | 1800–99 | Central hall of the Casón, Buen Retiro Palace | |
Giordano, Luca Life of Saint Benedict frescoes | 1944 | Battle of Monte Cassino | Painted for the Abbey of Monte Cassino. | |
Giordano, Luca The Rape of the Sabine Women | 1945 | Bombing of Dresden | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister | |
Kneller, Godfrey William III Leading Troops at the Battle of the Boyne | 1965 | Grocers' Hall fire | ||
Coypel, Antoine Venus Imploring Jupiter on Behalf of Aeneas ceiling painting | 1702 | 1783- | Grand Gallery of the Palais-Royal. A sketch for it survives | |
van Nost, John King George I of Great Britain equestrian statue | 1716 | 1872 | Vandalised, sold and removed[59] | Formerly part of the Duke of Chandos' collection at Cannons; moved to Leicester Square in London in 1784 |
Chardin Still Life with Copper Kettle, Bowl with Eggs | 1724–25 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Watteau Idol of the Goddess Ki Mao Sao in the Kingdom of Mang in the country of Laos | 1719 | 1789–99 | French Revolution | Château de la Muette decorations |
Watteau Spring | 1717-18 | 1966 | Fire | Pierre Crozat collection. Rediscovered in 1964 then destroyed. Autumn and Winter still missing. Engravings survive. |
Hogarth, William A Harlot's Progress | 1731 | 1755 | Fire at Fonthill Abbey | 1732 engravings survive |
Hogarth, William Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn | 1738 | 1874 | Fire at Littleton House in December[60] | An engraving by the artist survives |
Hudson, Thomas William Bouverie | 1952 | Coleshill House fire[61] | ||
Hudson, Thomas Anne Bouverie | 1952 | Coleshill House fire[61] | ||
Hudson, Thomas Mary Bouverie | 1952 | Coleshill House fire[61] | ||
Tiepolo, Gianbattista The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto fresco | 1915 | Austrian shelling in World War I | In the Church of the Scalzi, Venice. There is a copy of the entire ceiling from before 1914, painted in gouache after the original by Mariano Fortuny, a 1914 photograph by James Anderson and a reconstruction drawing (2019) by Olivier Maceratesi | |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo Soderini family frescoes | 1754 | 1918 | Italo-Austrian engagement in World War I, June 15–19[62] | Villa Soderini, Nervesa della Battaglia, in the Veneto. Photographs survive. |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista The Triumph of the Arts and Sciences ceiling fresco | 1731 | 1943 | Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing[63] | Photographs survive |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista Apollo and Phaethon ceiling fresco | 1731 | 1943 | Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing | |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista Perseus and Andromeda ceiling fresco | 1731 | 1943 | Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing | |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista Juno with Fortuna and Venus ceiling fresco | 1731 | 1943 | Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing | |
Tiepolo, Gianbattista Triumph of Hercules ceiling fresco | 1761 | 1945 | Reduced to fragments by bombing in WWII | Painted for the principal salon of the Palazzo Canossa, Verona |
de Loutherbourg, Philip James The Eidophusikon | 1781 | |||
Reynolds, Sir Joshua Nativity | 1816 | Belvoir Castle fire[64] | ||
Reynolds, Sir Joshua The Infant Jupiter | 1816 | Belvoir Castle fire | ||
Reynolds, Sir Joshua General James Oglethorpe | 1816 | Belvoir Castle fire | ||
Gainsborough David Garrick leaning on a bust of Shakespeare | 1766 | 1946 | Fire at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall[65] | Painted for the Stratford Shakespeare Jubilee. Known from engravings and various copies |
Gainsborough Wooded landscape with gipsies round a camp fire also named The Gipsies | 1754 | <1831 | A 1764 engraving published by John Boydell exists | |
Gainsborough The Woodman and his Dog in a Storm | 1787 | 1810 | Fire at Exton Old Park[66] | A 1791 mezzotint by Pierre Simon exists |
Gainsborough Cottage Children with an Ass | 1810 | Fire at Exton Old Park | Survives in mezzotint | |
Gainsborough Portrait of Sir Francis Sykes of Basildon with a groom, two horses, and a dog | 1874 | Fire at the Pantechnicon warehouse, London February 13–14[67] | ||
Wilson, Richard The Destruction of Niobe's Children | 1944 | World War II | National Gallery, London | |
Copley, John Singleton Numerous colonial portraits | 1872 | Great Boston Fire of 1872[68] | Formerly belonging to Peter Wainwright | |
Peale, Charles Willson Portrait of Thomas Paine | 1777 | 1893 | Fire at Joseph Jefferson's summer house in Buttermilk Bay, April 1[69] | Exhibited in Peale's Museum to 1854, later owned by T.B. MacDonough and the actor Joseph Jefferson. An engraving survives. |
Houdon, Jean-Antoine Bust of the composer Gluck in marble | 1873 | Fire at the Paris Opera | Terra cotta versions exist | |
Tiepolo, Giandomenico Glorification of the Giustiniani Family (fresco) | 1784 | 1866 | Allowed to decay and replaced | Executed for the Doge's Palace, Genoa. A preliminary sketch is in the Metropolitan Museum. |
Beechey, William George III and the Prince of Wales Reviewing Troops | 1797–98 | 1992 | Windsor Castle fire | |
Goya Don Antonio de Porcel | 1806 | 1956 | Fire in the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires | |
Stuart, Gilbert Seated portrait of President Washington | 1851 | Library of Congress fire | ||
Stuart, Gilbert Seated portrait of President Adams | 1851 | Library of Congress fire | ||
Stuart, Gilbert Seated portrait of President Jefferson | 1851 | Library of Congress fire | ||
Peale, Charles Willson Portrait of Peyton Randolph, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | 1851 | Library of Congress fire | ||
Canova George Washington, marble sculpture | 1831 | Fire in the North Carolina State House, Raleigh | The artist's plaster model survives | |
Peale, Rembrandt The Dream of Love (Jupiter and Io) | <1855 | Fire while on exhibition in New York prior to 1855, according to the artist | ||
Peale, Rembrandt Musidora | 1850–51 | Fire at a Philadelphia art gallery in 1850 or 1851 | ||
Friedrich, Caspar David Winter | 1807–08 | 1931 | Glaspalast (Munich) fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David The Farewell | 1818 | 1931 | Glaspalast (Munich) fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David The Harbor at Grifswald | 1820 | 1931 | Glaspalast (Munich) fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David Autumn Landscape with Brush Collector | 1824 | 1931 | Glaspalast (Munich) fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David Evening | 1825 | 1931 | Glaspalast (Munich) fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David Mountain Chapel in the Mist | 1811 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David Monastery Graveyard in the Snow | 1817–18 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David High Mountain Region | 1824 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Friedrich, Caspar David Northern Lights | 1830–1835 | 1945 | Friedrichshain flak tower fire | |
Turner The Mouth of the Thames | 1807 | 1939–1945 | World War II | |
Turner Fish Market on the Sands | 1830 | 1956 | Fire | formerly owned by Billy Rose |
Landseer, Sir Edwin War and Peace | 1846 | 1928 | Thames flooding | Was in the basement of the Tate Gallery. Engravings of both survive. A copy of War appeared on the television program Fake or Fortune, where it was thought to possibly be the original.[70] |
Bragaldi, Mario Jupiter on Mount Olympus ceiling fresco | 1850s | 2018 | National Museum of Brazil fire | Done for Emperor Pedro II of Brazil |
Bragaldi, Mario Justice ceiling fresco | 1850s | 2018 | National Museum of Brazil fire | |
Bragaldi, Mario Fortitude ceiling fresco | 1850s | 2018 | National Museum of Brazil fire | |
Bragaldi, Mario Temperance ceiling fresco | 1850s | 2018 | National Museum of Brazil fire | |
Bragaldi, Mario Prudence ceiling fresco | 1850s | 2018 | National Museum of Brazil fire | |
Leutze, Emanuel Washington Crossing the Delaware (first version) | 1849–50 | 1942 | Air raid on Bremen | |
Ingres Apotheosis of Napoleon I ceiling painting | 1871 | Hôtel de Ville fire[71] | ||
Delaroche, Paul The Storming of the Bastille | 1830 | 1871 | Hôtel de Ville fire | |
Delacroix, Eugène Justinian Drafting his Laws | 1826 | 1871 | Fire in the Paris Commune | Painted for the Council of State, Paris. An 1855 photograph survives[72] |
Delacroix, Eugène Peace Consoles Mankind and Brings Abundance | 1852–1854 | 1871 | Hôtel de Ville fire | |
Chassériau, Théodore War and Peace murals | 1848 | 1871 | Fire in the Paris Commune | Painted for the Cour des Comptes, Palais of the Quai d'Orsay, Paris. A fragment of Peace is preserved in the Louvre |
Winterhalter, Franz Xaver Napoleon III | 1856 | 1871 | Tuileries Palace fire | Models by the artist and copies exist |
Winterhalter, Franz Xaver Empress Eugénie | 1856 | 1871 | Tuileries Palace fire | Models by the artist and copies exist |
Millet, Jean-François The Jewish Captivity in Babylon | 1848 | 1870–71 | Painted over by the artist with a scene executed in Normandy | |
Courbet The Stone Breakers | 1939–1945 | World War II, while in transit from the Dresden Gallery | ||
Courbet The Return from the Conference | 1863 | 1909 | Destroyed by its owner due to its anticlerical content | |
Courbet Venus and Psyche | 1864 | 1945 | Enemy air action, Berlin, World War II | |
Van Gogh Donkey Cart with Boy and Scheveningen Woman | 1882 | 1940 | Fire | Formerly in Rotterdam |
Carpaccio, Vittore Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Faustinus and Jovita, patron saints of Brescia (the Averoldi Altarpiece) | Sacristy of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Brescia. Sold to the National Gallery London, lost in a shipwreck crossing the English Channel | |||
Van Gogh The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen with Pond and Figures | 1885 | 1940 | In the German bombing of Rotterdam during World War II | |
Van Gogh Windmill on Montmartre | 1886 | 1967 | Fire | |
Van Gogh Still Life: Vase with Five Sunflowers | 1888 | 1945 | American air raids on Ashiya District, August 5–6[73] | Formerly in the collection of Koyata Yamamoto, Japan |
Van Gogh The Painter on his Way to Work | 1888 | 1939–1945 | Fire in World War II | In the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin |
Van Gogh The Park at Arles with the Entrance Seen Through the Trees | 1888 | 1939–1945 | Fire in World War II | |
Inness, George The New Jerusalem | 1880 | Partial collapse of Madison Square Garden[74] | Salvaged fragments survive, including Valley of the Olive Trees in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore | |
Rousseau, Henri Portrait of Alfred Jarry | 1895 | Destroyed by the sitter, who disliked it | ||
Sargent Head of Sir Henry Irving | Destroyed by the sitter, who disliked it | |||
Chase, William Merritt Portrait of Thomas Eakins | 1899 | Presumed destroyed by the sitter | ||
Klimt Musik II | 1898 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt Schubert at the Piano | 1899 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt Portrait of Serena Lederer | 1899 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt Medicine | 1899–1907 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | |
Klimt Philosophy | 1899–1907 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | |
Klimt Jurisprudence | 1899–1907 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | |
Klimt Golden Apple Tree | 1903 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt Procession of the Dead | 1903 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Kandinsky Composition I | 1910 | 1944 | British air raid on Braunschweig, Germany | Known from photographs |
Sloan, John Tammany Hall at Night | 1910 | Fire, during transit | The artist later created a replica from photographs | |
Klimt Farm Garden with Crucifix | 1911–12 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Color images survive |
Csaky, Joseph Groupe de femmes | 1911–12 | 1912 | First World War | Salon d'Automne, 1913 Salon des Indépendants, Paris. Black & white images survive |
Csaky, Joseph Danseuse, (Femme à l'éventail) | 1912 | 1912 | Salon d'Automne, Paris, Galerie Moos, Geneva, 1920. Black & white images survive | |
Archipenko, Alexander La Vie Familiale (Family Life) | 1912 | First World War bombardment | 1912 Salon d'Automne, 1913 Armory Show. Was in Paris during WWI. New York Black & white images survive | |
Comper, Ninian Rood screen, with sixteen paintings | 1912[75] | 1993 | Bishopsgate bombing | Part of St Ethelburga's Bishopsgate, City of London.[76] Black & white images survive |
Csaky, Joseph Head (Tête d'homme) | 1913 | 1913 Salon des Indépendants, Paris, Galerie Moos, Geneva, 1920. Black & white images survive | ||
Klimt Malcesine on Lake Garda | 1913 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Color images survive |
Klimt Garden Path with Chickens | 1916 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Color images survive |
Klimt Portrait of Wally | 1916 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt The Girlfriends | 1916–17 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna. Color images survive |
Klimt Leda | 1917 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | Formerly Lederer family collection, Vienna |
Klimt Gastein | 1917 | 1945 | Schloss Immendorf fire | |
Shrady, Henry Robert E. Lee equestrian statue | 1924 | 2023 | City council was offended (it had been a focal point of the Unite the Right rally) and had it removed | Stood in Charlottesville, Virginia. Removed from its pedestal in 2021, and wilfully destroyed by melting in unspecified location two years later[77] |
Monet Water Lilies (major study) | 1925 | 1958[78] | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fire | |
Monet Water Lilies (small study) | 1925 | 1961 | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fire | |
Rivera, Diego Man at the Crossroads mural | 1933 | 1934 | Rockefeller was offended (it included a portrait of Lenin) and had it removed | Nelson Rockefeller commissioned the work. Rivera later recreated the work as Man, Controller of the Universe in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. |
Seligman, Hilda Bust of Haile Selassie | 1936 | 2020[79] | Vandalism linked to unrest in Ethiopia and persecution of the Oromo people | Originally located in the house in Wimbledon, London where Selassie lived in exile; moved to nearby Cannizaro Park in 1957 |
Miró The Reaper | 1937 | 1937 | Sent to Valencia and presumably destroyed | Created for the Spanish Republican pavilion of the 1937 Paris Exposition. Photographs of the installed mural exist |
Dalí The Seven Lively Arts | 1944 | 1956 | Fire | A series of seven paintings for Billy Rose. Known only from photographs |
Gorky, Arshile Works housed in his studio | 1940–1946 | 1946 | Arshile Gorky Studio Fire | |
Gorky, Arshile 15 Works | 1940–1946 | 1962 | American Airlines Flight 1 plane crash | |
Hopper, Edward Corn Belt City | 1947 | 1975 | Park Avenue apartment fire | |
Sutherland, Graham Portrait of Winston Churchill | 1954 | 1954 | Destroyed by the Churchills' private secretary | Color photographs survive |
Picasso Works for the documentary The Mystery of Picasso | 1956 | 1956 | Created on camera and then destroyed | |
Picasso Cubist Head | 1909-1912 | 1978 | Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro fire[8] | |
Picasso Portrait of Dora Maar | 1937 | 1978 | Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro fire[8] | |
Kauffman, Craig Untitled Wall Relief, an acrylic lacquer on Plexiglas piece | 1967 | 2006 | Fell and shattered at the Pompidou Center of Paris[80] | |
Alexander, Peter Untitled piece, molded polyester resin work | 1971 | 2006 | Fell and shattered at the Pompidou Center of Paris[80] | |
Calder, Alexander World Trade Center Stabile | 1971 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor][81] | |
Nagare, Masayuki World Trade Center Plaza Sculpture | 1972 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor][81] | Survived the initial collapse of the buildings, and was destroyed during cleanup. |
Miró, Joan, Josep Royo World Trade Center Tapestry | 1973 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor][81] | Hung in the South Tower Lobby |
Lichtenstein, Roy One painting from The Entablature Series | 1971–72 or 1974–1976 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor] | |
Rosati, James Ideogram | 1974 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor][81] | |
Nevelson, Louise Sky Gate, New York | 1978 | 2001 | World Trade Center Collapse[broken anchor][81] | |
Budd, Kenneth Chartist Mural | 1978 | 2013 | Redevelopment[82] | A 115 by 12 feet mosaic mural in Newport, Wales |
Pearl Monument | 1982 | 2011 | Torn down by the government after becoming a focal point for protesters | Stood in the center of the Pearl Roundabout, Bahrain |
Central Academy of Fine Arts students Goddess of Democracy | 1989 | 1989 | Destroyed by People's Liberation Army during Tiananmen Square protests | |
Whiteread, Rachel "House" temporary sculpture | 1993 | 1994 | Removed by London Borough of Tower Hamlets council on 11 January | |
Picasso The Painter | 1901–1973 | 1998 | Swissair Flight 111 Plane Crash | |
Emin, Tracey Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 ("The Tent") | 1995 | 2004 | Momart fire | |
Serra, Richard Tilted Arc | 1981 | 1989 | Dismantled and removed | |
Heatherwick, Thomas B of the Bang | 2005 | 2009 | Dismantled | Parts remain in storage |
Prymachenko, Maria Works of folk art | 2022 | 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine | In the Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum |
Annales Caermoelensis.
Annales Caermoelensis.