Lost artworks

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 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."[8]

A number of search and recovery efforts were created in response to major loss events, notably:

• Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program ("Monuments Men"), 1943–1946
• Bureau of Revindication and Damages (Poland), operated from 1945 to 1951
• Bureau of the Government Representative for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, 1991-

• Missing works with the highest estimated market values
• 
  Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael
• 
  Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco by Caravaggio Est. (2006) US$20,000,000[2]
• 
  Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt Est. (2006) priceless[2]
• 
  Landscape with an Obelisk by Govert Flinck Est. (2006) priceless[2]
• 
  The Concert by Vermeer Est. $20,000,000–priceless[2]
• 
  Alexander III Commemorative egg by Fabergé Est. $20–30,000,000
• 
  Royal Danish egg (Danish Jubilee egg) by Fabergé Est. $20–30,000,000
• 
  Vase with Lychnis by Van Gogh
• 
  Chez Tortoni by Édouard Manet Est. (2006) priceless[2]
• 
  White Duck by Jean-Baptiste Oudry Est. (2006) US$8,800,000[2]
• 
  View of Auvers-sur-Oise by Cézanne Est. (2006) US$3,000,000[2]

16th century

List of notable lost artworks

Status	Creation date(s) (est.)	Known as	Creator	Commission/provenance note	Loss event	Year lost (est.)	Surviving copies and documentation
Missing	1511-20	The Trial of Saint Stephen	Vittore Carpaccio	One of a series of five canvases for the Scuola di San Stefano, Venice	Untraced after 1806	1806	A drawing for the modello survives in the Uffizi
Destroyed		Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints Faustinus and Jovita, patron saints of Brescia (the Averoldi Altarpiece)	Carpaccio	Formerly sacristy of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Brescia	Sold to the National Gallery London, lost in a shipwreck crossing the English Channel
Destroyed		The Birth of Paris (Finding of the Infant Paris?)	Giorgione	In the collections of Taddeo Contarini, Venice and the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, Brussels			Known through a copy by David Teniers the Younger, now in the Musées Royaux de Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Engraved by Theodoor van Kessel, 1660. A fragment of two shepherds survives.
Destroyed	c. 1507-08	Assumption of the Virgin	Fra Bartolomeo		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Missing	before 1500	Medusa (unfinished)	Leonardo da Vinci	In the collection of Cosimo I of Tuscany, 1553	Lost since the end of the 16th century	1550–99
Missing	1508	Leda and the Swan	Leonardo da Vinci		Disappeared from the French royal palace of Fontainebleau after 1623	After 1623	A copy by Cesare da Sesto is at Wilton House,Salisbury
Missing		The Battle of Anghiari	Leonardo da Vinci		Palazzo Vecchio			Portrait of a Courtesan by Caravaggio, formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin
Destroyed		Cartoon of the battle of Cascina, Palazzo Vecchio	Michelangelo		Putatively destroyed by Bandinelli
Missing	circa 1530	A painting of Leda and the Swan	Michelangelo	Given by the artist to his friend Antonio Mini who took it to France	Disappeared in France		A print engraved by Cornelis Vos, 1537, records the design
Destroyed		A marble Cupid	Michelangelo	Later owned by Isabella d'Este and Charles I of England	Fire at Whitehall Palace, London	1698
Presumed Destroyed		Portrait of a Courtesan	Caravaggio	Formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin	Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Missing	c. 1492–94	A marble Hercules	Michelangelo	Michelangelo's first free-standing statue; installed in the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1506, sent to France in the 16th century	Disappeared from the French royal palace of Fontainebleau in the 18th century	1700–99
Missing		A bronze statue of David resting his foot on the severed head of Goliath	Michelangelo	Commissioned in 1502 and sent to France in 1508	Disappeared from the Chateau de Villeroy during the French Revolution	1794–95		A lost self-portrait, by Raphael
Destroyed		A bronze statue of pope Julius II in the act of blessing	Michelangelo	On San Petronio basilica's facade in Bologna	Destroyed by the people of Bologna	1511
Destroyed		Altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with St. Mary Magdalen and St. Lucy (Madonna of Albinea)	Antonio da Correggio
Destroyed		Fresco of The Coronation of the Virgin for the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma	Correggio		Destroyed	1587	Fragments in National Gallery, London, other museums
Destroyed		Fresco of Saint Mary Magdalen in the Desert	Correggio	Painted for Veronica Gambara's Palazzo della Delizie, in the town of Correggio	Destruction of Palazzo della Delizie	c. 1555	Described in a letter dated Sept. 3, 1528 from Veronica Gambara to Isabella d’Este[21]
Missing	1513–14	Portrait of a Young Man (Raphael)	Raphael		Nazi plunder	1939
Destroyed		Baronci altarpiece (the Crowning of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino)	Raphael	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	Earthquake	1700–99	At least four fragments survive (Louvre, Capodimonte)
Missing		Saint Catherine of Alexandria	Raphael	Formerly owned by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel	Presumed lost		Depicted in an engraving by Wenceslas Hollar
Missing	1520	Portrait of Albrecht Durer in Black Hat and Cloak	Tommaso Vincidor	Painted from life in Antwerp	Presumed lost		Depicted in the 17th-century gallery of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haecht
Missing	1537–39	Frescoes for the Massimi Chapel at Santa Trinità dei Monti, Rome, representing Christ at the Pool of Bethesda, Christ and the Centurion, the Transfiguration, the Expulsion from the Temple and (possibly) the Feeding of the Five Thousand.	Pierino del Vaga		Detached during Napoleonic times and lost by 1840	Before 1840	A companion fresco, The Raising of Lazarus, now transferred to canvas, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Missing		The Wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite silver bowl	Cellini		Taken from the Chapter of the Basilica of Santa Barbara, Modena, by the French	1796
Destroyed		Ascension of Mary altarpiece (The ‘Heller altar’)	Dürer	The central panel added to the collection of Elector Maximilian of Bavaria	Fire	1729	A 1615 copy of the entire altarpiece by Jobst Harrich of Nuremberg survives
Destroyed	c. 1529	Portrait of an Architect (Self-Portrait?)	Wolf Huber		Fire at the Musée de Beaux Arts, Strasbourg, August 13, 1947 (one of 30 paintings destroyed)	1947
Destroyed		Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz	Cranach the Elder		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Virgin and Child with Four Female Saints	Cranach the Elder		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Madonna and Child with Infant Saint John	Cranach the Elder		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Duke Henry of Saxony	Cranach the Elder		Bombing of Dresden, February 1945	1945
Missing		Market Day	Pieter Brueghel the Elder				Depicted in the 17th-century gallery of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haecht
Destroyed		The Farmers Brawl	Pieter Brueghel the Elder		Bombing of Dresden, February	1945	Engraved by Lucas Vosterman, c. 1620
Destroyed		Whitehall Mural of Henry VIII and family in Whitehall Palace, London	Hans Holbein the Younger		Fire	1698
Destroyed		Sir Thomas More and Family	Holbein		Fire at Kremsier Castle, the Moravian residence of Carl von Liechtenstein, archbishop of Olmutz[22]	1752
Missing		The Goldsmith Hans von Zurich	Holbein	Owned successively by Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel and Everhard Jabach and heirs	Presumed lost		Copied by Lucas Vosterman and engraved by Wenceslas Hollar
Missing	1543	Portrait of Johann von Schwarzwaldt	Holbein	Poland	Looted in World War II	1939–45	Photograph survives
Destroyed		Battle of Spoleto	Titian		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Battle of Cadore	Titian		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Doge Gritti Praying to the Virgin	Titian		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Coronation of Frederick Barbarossa	Tintoretto		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Excommunication of Barbarossa	Tintoretto		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Last Judgment	Tintoretto		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Homage of Frederick Barbarossa	Paolo Veronese		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Works	Gentile da Fabriano		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Works	Pisanello		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Pope Alexander III in the Church of St. Marks	Carpaccio		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Meeting of the Pope and the Doge at Ancona	Carpaccio		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Otho Promising to Mediate Between Venice and Barbarossa	Alvise Vivarini		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Paradise	Guariento		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Battle of Salvore	Gentile Bellini		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Presentation of the White Candle to the Pope	Gentile Bellini		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Destroyed		Presentation of the Eight Standards and Trumpets to the Doge	Giovanni Bellini		Doge's Palace fire	1577
Missing		Portrait of Isabella d'Este in Red	Titian				A copy by Rubens is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Destroyed		Death of St Peter Martyr for the Chapel of the Rosary, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice	Titian		Fire	1867	Copies and engravings survive
Destroyed		Double Portrait of Emperor Charles V and his wife Isabella of Portugal	Titian		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734	A copy by Rubens survives
Destroyed	1561	Penitent Magdalene	Titian	Painted for Philip II of Spain	Fire at Bath House, London, January 21	1873
Destroyed		Ixion and Tantalus	Titian		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Destroyed		Paintings of The Twelve Caesars	Titian		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Missing		Venus in Front of her Mirror	Titian		Lost from the Spanish royal collection in the 19th century	1800–99	A copy by Rubens survives
Missing	1551	Frescoes for the first floor loggia of the Villa Soranzo at Treville (near Castelfranco Veneto)	Veronese and by Giambattista Zelotti	Designed by Michele Sanmicheli	Fresco fragments were removed from the villa and dispersed when it was destroyed between 1817–19	1819
Destroyed	1578	The Jewel of Vicenza	Attributed to Andrea Palladio or Giorgio Capobianco	Created as an ex-voto and financed by donations from the city of Vicenza	Destroyed by the Napoleonic army when they tried to melt it down for silver	1797	A silver reconstruction was made in 2012–2013
Destroyed	c. 1580	Apollo and Juno	Veronese	Painted for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice	Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	c. 1580	Saturn Helps Religion to Overcome Heresy	Veronese	Painted for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice	Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Fresco of God the Father and the Four Evangelists	Pontormo	In the Capponi Chapel, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence	Remodeling in the 18th century	1700–99
Destroyed		Unfinished fresco of the Last Judgment at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence	Pontormo		Renovations in the 18th century	1700–99
Destroyed	1597-99	Portrait of a Courtesan, aka Fillide Melandroni	Caravaggio		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Missing	1572-	Portrait of Bianca Cappello (the Serendipity painting)	Vasari or Allori	Formerly at the Vitelli palace, it was purchased by Horace Mann and sent as a gift to Horace Walpole. After the death of Walpole, the painting was sold as lot 92 in the 1842 Strawberry Hill auction (20th day); then possibly sold at the 1895 Sale of the Doetsch Collection at Christie's (item 157, as "Portrait of Laudomia de' Medici").	Missing after the 1842 or the 1895 auction.	1895	Sir Horace Walpole coined the term serendipity when writing about this painting to Horace Mann (January 28, 1754)

17th century

List of notable lost artworks

Status	Creation date(s) (est.)	Known as	Creator	Commission/provenance note	Loss event	Year lost (est.)	Surviving copies and documentation
Missing		A Christus head	Annibale Carracci					A lost Christus head by Annibale Carracci
Destroyed	1602	The Armada Tapestries	Vroom, Hendrick	For Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham; sold to James I, 1616 and placed in the House of Lords, London by Oliver Cromwell, 1650	Burning of Parliament[23]	1834	Engraved by John Pine, 1739[24]
Destroyed		Equestrian bronze statue of Henry IV of France	Giovanni da Bologna	Presented to Marie de Medicis by Cosimo II of Tuscany in 1614	Melted for cannon during the French Revolution	1789–99
Missing		Time Saving Truth from Envy and Discord	Nicolas Poussin		Untraced since 1840	1840
Destroyed	1630	The Martyrdom of Erasmus	Nicolas Poussin		Bombing of Dresden, February 1945	1945
Destroyed	1637–40	Penance, one of the seven Sacraments	Nicolas Poussin		Belvoir Castle fire	1816
Destroyed	1650	Ceiling reliefs of plants and garlands	Roger Pratt		Coleshill House fire[25]	1952	Photographs survive[25]
Destroyed	1658	Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus	Claude Lorrain		Fonthill Abbey fire[26]	1755	A fragment in the collection of the Earl of Leicester, Holkham Hall
Destroyed	1660–73	Apollo Guarding the Herds of Admetus and Mercury Stealing Them	Claude Lorrain		Holker Hall fire[3]	1871
Missing	1666–73	Aeneas and the Sibyl of Cumae	Claude Lorrain	One of four works commissioned by Prince Falconieri			Liber Veritatis 183
Lost at sea	1601–02	The Crucifixion	Peter Paul Rubens	Painted for the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome	Imported to England 1811; there auctioned 1812, 1820; lost at sea after last date	after 1820[27]
Missing	1609	Judith Beheading Holofernes	Rubens			Known only though the 1610 engraving by Cornelis Galle the Elder
Destroyed		Madonna of the Rosary	Rubens	Painted for the Royal Chapel of the Dominican Church, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed	1610	Virgin Adorned with Flowers by Saint Anne	Rubens	Painted for the Church of the Carmelite Friars, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed	1613	Saint Job Triptych	Rubens	Painted for Saint Nicholas Church, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed		Cambyses Appointing Otanes Judge	Rubens	Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed		Judgment of Solomon	Rubens	Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed		Last Judgment	Rubens	Decoration for the Magistrates' Hall, Brussels	Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed	1615	Neptune and Amphitrite	Rubens		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Nativity	Rubens		Coudenberg Palace fire	1731
Destroyed		Adoration of the Magi	Rubens		Coudenberg Palace fire	1731
Destroyed		Pentecost	Rubens		Coudenberg Palace fire	1731
Missing	1617–18	Susannah and the Elders	Rubens				Engraved 1620 by Lucas Vosterman
Missing	1618	Satyr, Nymph, Putti and Leopards	Rubens				Now known only from engraving
Destroyed		The Abduction of Proserpine	Rubens		Fire at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, February 5, 1861[28]	1861	Engraved before 1621 by Pieter Soutman
Destroyed	1622	Crucifixion with Mary, St. John, Magdalen	Rubens		English Civil War: English Parliamentarians in the Queen's Chapel, Somerset House, London, 1643[29]	1643
Destroyed	1628	Portrait of Philip IV of Spain	Rubens		Incendiary attack at the Kunsthaus, Zurich, in 1985[30]	1985
Destroyed	1635–38	Diana and Nymphs Surprised by Satyrs	Rubens		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Missing		Equestrian Portrait of the Archduke Albert	Rubens
Destroyed		Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV of Spain	Rubens		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734	A copy is in the Uffizi Gallery
Destroyed		The Continence of Scipio	Rubens		Fire in the Western Exchange, Old Bond Street, London, March 1836[31]	1836
Destroyed		The Lion Hunt	Rubens	Removed by Napoleon's agents from Schloss Schleissheim, near Munich, 1800	Fire at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux[32]	1870
Destroyed		Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Buckingham	Rubens	Later owned by the Earl of Jersey at Osterley Park	Fire[33]	1949		Grisaille sketch of Magistrates of Brussels, in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris
Destroyed		Series of 39 ceiling paintings for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp (nl:Carolus Borromeuskerk#Branden, Dutch wiki)	Van Dyck (largely executed by), Rubens (designed by)		Fire	1718	Engravings by Jan Punt (Amsterdam 1751) of 31 of the paintings from drawings executed 1711-12 by Jacob de Wit exist[34]
Destroyed		Vision of Saint Hubert	Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Allegories of Sight and Smell	Jan Brueghel the Elder and other artists	Bought (with the following entry) by the City of Antwerp and hung in audience hall, Tervuren Castle 1619[35]	Coudenberg Palace fire	1731
Destroyed		Allegories of Hearing, Taste and Touch	Jan Brueghel the Elder and other artists		Coudenberg Palace fire	1731
Missing	1641	Portrait of Jules Mazarin before his appointment as Cardinal	Van Dyck		The French rebellion of the Frond. Sold at an auction by the Tribunal of Paris between the 28th of December 1651 and February 1652	1651/2
Destroyed	1634-5	Group Portrait of the Town Council of Brussels	Van Dyck		Bombardment of Brussels	1695
Destroyed		Christ Crowned with Thorns	Van Dyck		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Lamentation over Christ	Van Dyck		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Nymphs Surprised by Satyrs	Van Dyck		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist	Van Dyck		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Adoration of the Shepherds (Birth of Christ)	Gerrit van Honthorst		Uffizi car bombing	1993
Destroyed	1627	Six Gold and Silver Smiths (The "Bankers of Amsterdam")	Thomas de Keyser		Fire at the Musée de Beaux Arts, Strasbourg, August 13, 1947[36] (one of 30 paintings destroyed)	1947
Missing	1646	The Circumcision	Rembrandt	Executed for the Stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange	Went missing in the 18th century	1700–99	A presumed copy is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, Germany
Destroyed		Bentheim Castle with Christ and Disciples on the Road to Emmaus	Jacob van Ruisdael		Museum Boymans fire	1864
Destroyed		The Windmill	Jacob van Ruisdael		Holker Hall fire[37]	1871
Destroyed		Large family portrait	Carel Fabritius		Museum Boymans fire	1864
Destroyed		Sleeping Man	Aelbert Cuyp		Museum Boymans fire	1864
Destroyed		Tobias Healing His Father	Jan Steen		Museum Boymans fire[38]	1864
Destroyed		White Ox in a Field	Paulus Potter		Museum Boymans fire	1864
Destroyed		Large Herd of Oxen	Paulus Potter	Purchased for Fl. 9050, Braamcamp sale, Amsterdam, 1771 by agents of Catherine the Great.	Vrouw Maria sinking[39]	1771
Missing		A Gentleman washing his hands in a see-through room (half-door) with sculptures, artful and rare	Vermeer				Listed in the catalogue of the Dissius auction, Holland, 1696
Destroyed	1601	The Inspiration of Matthew first version	Caravaggio		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	1605	Christ on the Mount of Olives	Caravaggio	From the collection of Vincenzo Giustiniani	Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Missing		A portrait of Alof de Wignacourt	Caravaggio
Destroyed		Saint John	Caravaggio	Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples	Earthquake	1798
Destroyed		Saint Francis	Caravaggio	Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples	Earthquake	1798
Destroyed		Resurrection	Caravaggio	Done for the Fenaroli chapel, Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Naples	Earthquake	1798	A 1763 description by Charles-Nicolas Cochin[40] survives.
Missing		Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence	Caravaggio	For the Oratorio of San Lorenzo, Palermo	Stolen	1969
Destroyed		The Conversion of Saint Paul altarpiece	Orazio Gentileschi	Done for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome	Fire	1823
Destroyed		The Stoning of Saint Stephen altarpiece	Lavinia Fontana	Done for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome	Fire	1823
Destroyed	1628	Hercules and Omphale	Artemisia Gentileschi	Painted for Philip IV of Spain	Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Destroyed	1650–52	Bathsheba	Artemisia Gentileschi		Fire at Gosford House, Scotland[41]	1940
Destroyed		La Buonavventura	Bartolomeo Manfredi		Uffizi car bombing	1993
Destroyed		Ciclo Vito	Bartolomeo Manfredi		Uffizi car bombing	1993
Destroyed		Danae	Annibale Carracci	Formerly Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, Westminster, London	World War II, May 11, 1941	1941
Destroyed	1600	Saint Gregory Praying for Souls in Purgatory, altarpiece	Annibale Caracci	For the church of San Gregorio Magno, Rome; formerly Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, Westminster, London	World War II, May 11, 1941	1941
Destroyed		Descent from the Cross	Ludovico Carracci	Formerly Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, Westminster, London	World War II, May 11, 1941	1941
Destroyed		Bacchus and Ariadne	Guido Reni	Commissioned for Queen Henrietta Maria's house at Greenwich, 1637	Destroyed in France in the 17th century by the widow of Michel Particelli d'Hemery, who was scandalized by the female nudes it contained[42]	1700–99	A fragment with the head of Ariadne survives
Destroyed		Immaculate Conception	Guido Reni	Formerly Seville Cathedral, Spain, later in the Ellesmere collection, Bridgewater House, Westminster, London	World War II, May 11, 1941	1941
Destroyed		Bust of King Charles I (Bernini)	Bernini		Whitehall Palace fire, London	1698
Destroyed		Crucified Christ in bronze	Bernini	Formerly in the French royal collection	French Revolution	1789–99
Destroyed	1627	Expulsion of the Moors with Philip III	Velasquez		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Destroyed		Venus and Adonis	Velasquez		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Destroyed		Cupid and Psyche	Velasquez		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Destroyed		Apollo and Marsyas	Velasquez		Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire	1734
Missing		Francesco de Ochoa	Velasquez	One of two portraits of royal jesters for the Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid
Missing		Cardenas the Toreador	Velasquez	One of two portraits of royal jesters for the Buen Retiro Palace, Madrid
Missing		Pelican with Bucket and Donkeys	Velasquez	For the Palace of Buen Retiro, Madrid
Destroyed		Saint Bonaventure Reveals the Crucifix to Saint Thomas Aquinas	Zurbarán	Commissioned by the Colegio de San Buenaventura, Seville. Taken from Spain by Marshal Soult	Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed		Caritas Romana (Roman Charity)	Murillo	Taken from Spain by Joseph Bonaparte and sold to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art	Fire	1845
Destroyed	1692–1702	Frescoes of The Labors of Hercules	Luca Giordano	For the Buen Retiro Palace of Charles II of Spain, Madrid	Destroyed in the 19th century	1800–99
Destroyed		Frescoes of the Life of Saint Benedict	Luca Giordano	Painted for the Abbey of Monte Cassino	Bombing, Battle of Monte Cassino, February 15, 1944	1944
Destroyed		William III Leading Troops at the Battle of the Boyne	Godfrey Kneller		Grocers' Hall Fire, London, 22 September	1965

18th century

List of notable lost artworks

Status	Creation date(s) (est.)	Known as	Creator	Commission/provenance note	Loss event	Year lost (est.)	Surviving copies and documentation
Destroyed		The White Duck	Jean-Baptiste Oudry		Houghton Hall theft	1990		Jean-Baptiste Oudry's The White Duck, which was stolen in 1990
Missing		The Amber Room of the Catherine Palace			Stolen by Germans during World War II	1941–45
Destroyed	1702	Venus Imploring Jupiter on Behalf of Aeneas, the ceiling painting for the Grand Gallery of the Palais-Royal	Antoine Coypel		Destroyed in the late 18th century	after 1783	A sketch for it survives
Missing, believed destroyed	1716	An equestrian statue of King George I of Great Britain	John van Nost	Formerly part of the Duke of Chandos' collection at Cannons; moved to Leicester Square in London in 1784	Badly vandalised; later sold and removed[43]	1872
Missing		The Drawing Lesson	Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
Missing		A Girl Reciting her Gospel	Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
Destroyed	1724–25	Still Life with Copper Kettle, Bowl with Eggs	Chardin		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	c. 1719	Decorations for the Chateau de la Muette: the Goddess Ki Mao Sao in the Kingdom of Mang in the country of Laos	Watteau		French Revolution	1789–99
Destroyed		Spring (Printemps)	Watteau	One of a series of four paintings of the Seasons, painted for the banker Pierre Crozat	Lost, then rediscovered in 1964, destroyed by fire two years later	1966
Missing		Autumn	Watteau	One of a series of four paintings of the Seasons, painted by Watteau for the banker Pierre Crozat
Missing		Winter	Watteau	One of a series of four paintings of the Seasons, painted by Watteau for the banker Pierre Crozat
Missing		Jay and Oriole Hung by the Feet	Jean-Baptiste Oudry	Exhibited at the Salon of 1751
Destroyed	1731	A Harlot's Progress (the original paintings)	William Hogarth		Fire at Fonthill Abbey	1755	1732 engravings survive
Destroyed	1738	Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn	William Hogarth		Fire at Littleton House in December[44]	1874	An engraving by the artist survives
Destroyed		William Bouverie	Thomas Hudson		Coleshill House fire[25]	1952
Destroyed		Anne Bouverie	Thomas Hudson		Coleshill House fire[25]	1952
Destroyed		Mary Bouverie	Thomas Hudson		Coleshill House fire[25]	1952
Destroyed		Fresco of The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto	Gianbattista Tiepolo	In the Church of the Scalzi, Venice	Austrian shelling in World War I	1915
Destroyed	c. 1754	Frescoes glorifying the Soderini family	Gianbattista Tiepolo and Giandomenico Tiepolo	Villa Soderini, Nervesa della Battaglia, in the Veneto	Italo-Austrian engagement in World War I, June 15–19[45]	1918	Photographs survive.
Missing		Mars Resting ceiling painting	Gianbattista Tiepolo	Executed for Rinaldi's Chinese palace, Oranienbaum, Russia	Transferred to Pavlovsk for safekeeping; vanished	1941
Destroyed	1731	The Triumph of the Arts and Sciences ceiling fresco	Gianbattista Tiepolo		Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing[46]	1943	Photographs survive
Destroyed	1731	Apollo and Phaethon ceiling fresco	Gianbattista Tiepolo		Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing	1943
Destroyed	1731	Perseus and Andromeda ceiling fresco	Gianbattista Tiepolo		Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing	1943
Destroyed	1731	Juno with Fortuna and Venus ceiling fresco	Gianbattista Tiepolo		Palazzo Archinto, Milan bombing	1943
Destroyed	1761	Triumph of Hercules ceiling fresco	Gianbattista Tiepolo	Painted for the principal salon of the Palazzo Canossa, Verona	Reduced to fragments by bombing in the Second World War	1945
Destroyed		Nativity	Sir Joshua Reynolds		Belvoir Castle fire[47]	1816
Destroyed		The Infant Jupiter	Sir Joshua Reynolds		Belvoir Castle fire	1816
Destroyed		General James Oglethorpe	Sir Joshua Reynolds		Belvoir Castle fire	1816
Destroyed	1766	David Garrick leaning on a bust of Shakespeare	Gainsborough	Painted for the Stratford Shakespeare Jubilee	Fire at Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall[48]	1946	Known from engravings and various copies
Destroyed	1787	The Woodman and his Dog in a Storm	Gainsborough		Fire at Exton Old Park[49]	1810	A 1791 mezzotint by Pierre Simon exists
Destroyed		Cottage Children with an Ass	Gainsborough		Fire at Exton Old Park	1810	Survives in mezzotint
Destroyed		Portrait of Sir Francis Sykes of Basildon with a groom, two horses, and a dog	Gainsborough		Fire at the Pantechnicon warehouse, London February 13–14[50]	1874
Destroyed		The Destruction of Niobe's Children	Richard Wilson	Formerly National Gallery, London	World War II	1944
Destroyed		Numerous colonial portraits	John Singleton Copley	Formerly belonging to Peter Wainwright	Great Boston Fire of 1872[51]	1872
Destroyed	1777	Portrait of Thomas Paine	Charles Willson Peale	Exhibited in Peale's Museum to 1854, later owned by T.B. MacDonough and the actor Joseph Jefferson	Fire at Joseph Jefferson's summer house in Buttermilk Bay, April 1, 1893[52]	1893	An engraving survives.
Destroyed		Bust of the composer Gluck in marble	Jean-Antoine Houdon		Fire at the Paris Opera	1873	Terra cotta versions exist
Missing	1781	The Eidophusikon	Philip James de Loutherbourg
Destroyed	1784	Glorification of the Giustiniani Family (fresco)	Giandomenico Tiepolo	Executed for the Doge's Palace, Genoa	Allowed to decay and replaced by another fresco	1866	A preliminary sketch is in the Metropolitan Museum.
Missing	1793	Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau on his Death Bed	Jacques-Louis David	Exhibited with David's Marat in the courtyard of the Louvre,16 October 1793			An engraving by Anatole Desvoges exists
Destroyed	1797–98	George III and the Prince of Wales Reviewing Troops	William Beechey		Windsor Castle fire	1992	-

19th century

List of notable lost artworks

Status	Creation date(s) (est.)	Known as	Creator	Commission/provenance note	Loss event	Year lost (est.)	Surviving copies and documentation
Destroyed	1806	Don Antonio de Porcel	Goya		Fire in the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires	1956
Missing	1808	A Vision of the Last Judgment	William Blake				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
Destroyed		Seated portrait of President Washington	Gilbert Stuart		Library of Congress fire	1851
Destroyed		Seated portrait of President Adams	Gilbert Stuart		Library of Congress fire	1851
Destroyed		Seated portrait of President Jefferson	Gilbert Stuart		Library of Congress fire	1851
Destroyed		Portrait of Peyton Randolph, Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses	Charles Willson Peale		Library of Congress fire	1851
Destroyed		George Washington, marble sculpture	Canova		Fire in the North Carolina State House, Raleigh	1831	The artist's plaster model survives
Destroyed		The Dream of Love (Jupiter and Io)	Rembrandt Peale		Fire while on exhibition in New York prior to 1855, according to the artist	Before 1855
Destroyed		Musidora	Rembrandt Peale		Fire at a Philadelphia art gallery in 1850 or 1851	1850–51
Destroyed	1807–08	Winter	Caspar David Friedrich		Glaspalast (Munich) fire	1931
Destroyed	1818	The Farewell	Caspar David Friedrich		Glaspalast (Munich) fire	1931
Destroyed	c. 1820	The Harbor at Grifswald	Caspar David Friedrich		Glaspalast (Munich) fire	1931
Destroyed	1824	Autumn Landscape with Brush Collector	Caspar David Friedrich		Glaspalast (Munich) fire	1931
Destroyed	1825	Evening	Caspar David Friedrich		Glaspalast (Munich) fire	1931
Destroyed	1811	Mountain Chapel in the Mist	Caspar David Friedrich		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	1817–18	Monastery Graveyard in the Snow	Caspar David Friedrich		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	1824	High Mountain Region	Caspar David Friedrich		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	1830–35	Northern Lights	Caspar David Friedrich		Friedrichshain flak tower fire	1945
Destroyed	1807	The Mouth of the Thames	Turner		World War II	1939–45
Destroyed	1830	Fish Market on the Sands	Turner	formerly owned by Billy Rose	Fire	1956
Missing	1850	Aeneas Relating his Story to Dido	Turner
Destroyed	1846	War and Peace	Sir Edwin Landseer		Thames flooding the basement of the Tate Gallery, January	1928
Destroyed	1850s	Jupiter on Mount Olympus ceiling fresco	Mario Bragaldi	Done for Emperor Pedro II of Brazil	National Museum of Brazil fire	2018		Fresco of Jupiter on Mount Olympus by Mario Bragaldi in the National Museum of Brazil. Picture taken a few months before the fire
Destroyed	1850s	Justice ceiling fresco	Mario Bragaldi		National Museum of Brazil fire	2018
Destroyed	1850s	Fortitude ceiling fresco	Mario Bragaldi		National Museum of Brazil fire	2018
Destroyed	1850s	Temperance ceiling fresco	Mario Bragaldi		National Museum of Brazil fire	2018
Destroyed	1850s	Prudence ceiling fresco	Mario Bragaldi		National Museum of Brazil fire	2018
Missing	1840–46	Mississippi River Panorama	John Banvard		Cut into pieces	1850–99
Destroyed	1849–50	Washington Crossing the Delaware (first version)	Emanuel Leutze		Air raid on Bremen	1942
Destroyed		Apotheosis of Napoleon I ceiling painting	Ingres		Hôtel de Ville fire[53]	1871
Destroyed	1830	The Storming of the Bastille	Delaroche, Paul		Hôtel de Ville fire	1871
Destroyed	1826	Justinian Drafting his Laws	Delacroix, Eugène	Painted for the Council of State, Paris	Fire in the Paris Commune	1871	An 1855 photograph survives[54]
Destroyed	1852–54	Peace Consoles Mankind and Brings Abundance	Delacroix, Eugène		Hôtel de Ville fire	1871
Destroyed	1848	Murals of War and Peace	Théodore Chassériau	Painted for the Cour des Comptes, Palais of the Quai d'Orsay, Paris	Fire in the Paris Commune	1871	A fragment of Peace is preserved in the Louvre
Destroyed	1856	Napoleon III	Winterhalter, Franz Xaver		Tuileries Palace fire	1871	Models by the artist and copies exist
Destroyed	1856	Empress Eugénie	Winterhalter, Franz Xaver		Tuileries Palace fire	1871	Models by the artist and copies exist
Destroyed		The Jewish Captivity in Babylon	Jean-François Millet	Submitted for the Paris Salon, 1848	Painted over by the artist with a scene executed in Normandy	1870–71
Destroyed		The Stone Breakers	Courbet		World War II, while in transit from the Dresden Gallery	1939–45
Destroyed	1863	The Return from the Conference	Courbet		Destroyed by its owner due to its anticlerical content	1909
Destroyed	1864	Venus and Psyche	Courbet		Enemy air action, Berlin, World War II	1945
Missing	1873–75	View of Auvers-sur-Oise	Cézanne		Ashmolean Museum theft	1999		View of Auvers-sur-Oise by Paul Cézanne
Destroyed	1882	Donkey Cart with Boy and Scheveningen Woman	Van Gogh	Formerly in Rotterdam	Fire	1940
Destroyed	1885	The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen with Pond and Figures	Van Gogh		Fire in Rotterdam during World War II	1939–45
Missing	1885	The Apparition	James Tissot		Lost		A mezzotint by the artist exists
Destroyed	1886	Windmill on Montmartre	Van Gogh		Fire	1967
Destroyed	1888	Still Life: Vase with Five Sunflowers	Van Gogh	Formerly in the collection of Koyata Yamamoto, Japan	American air raids on Ashiya District, August 5–6[55]	1945
Destroyed	1888	The Painter on his Way to Work	Van Gogh	Formerly in the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin	Fire in World War II	1939–45
Destroyed	1888	The Park at Arles with the Entrance Seen Through the Trees	Van Gogh		Fire in World War II	1939–45
Missing	1888	The Lovers: The Poet's Garden IV	Van Gogh		Declared degenerate and confiscated by the Nazis, Whereabouts unknown	1937
Destroyed		The New Jerusalem	George Inness		Partial collapse of Madison Square Garden[56]	1880	Salvaged fragments survive, including Valley of the Olive Trees in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Destroyed	1895	Portrait of French playwright Alfred Jarry	Henri Rousseau		Destroyed by the sitter, who disliked it
Missing	1891-2	Diana (Saint Gaudens) bronze sculpture (first version)	Augustus Saint-Gaudens	Designed to crown the Madison Square Garden tower	Replaced by the artist with a lighter, smaller copper version
Destroyed		Head of Sir Henry Irving	John Singer Sargent		Destroyed by the sitter, who disliked it
Presumed Destroyed	c. 1899	Portrait of Thomas Eakins	William Merritt Chase		Presumed destroyed by the sitter
Missing	1886	Hen with Sapphire Pendant	Fabergé		Russian Revolution	1922
Missing	1888	Cherub with Chariot	Fabergé		Russian Revolution	1922
Missing	1889	Necessaire egg	Fabergé		Russian Revolution	1922
Missing	1898	Mauve egg	Fabergé		Russian Revolution	1922
Missing	1899	Furor Teutonicus	Paja Jovanović	An over 20 square meter painting last seen at the Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts (where the painting was also known as Los Barbaros)	Lost sometime between 1911 and World War II	1911–39	A heliogravure copy and an oil canvas sketch survive at the Belgrade City Museum.[57]

• List of missing treasures
• Lost film
• Lost work
• List of destroyed heritage

• Media related to Lost artworks at Wikimedia Commons
• The Story of Leonardo da Vinci's Horse
• 9/11 Attacks Destroy Cultural and Historical Artifacts
• The Britart fire
• Lost Art. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Library Collections. In the Library's Photographs and Clippings Files.
• Lost Art — Masterpieces Destroyed in War in Flickr
• Destroyed Works of Art and Architecture Group in Flickr