The Fitzwilliam Museum will return a painting stolen by the Nazis to the descendants of its rightful Jewish owner.

A 19-page report by the Spoilation Advisory Panel, a government panel made up of expert advisers, recommended the return of ‘La Ronde Enfantine’.

The painting is an oil landscape, by the French realist Gustave Courbet, which is believed to have been painted around 1862. The artwork is currently in storage and not on display.

‘La Ronde Enfantine’ was seized in 1941 from its owner Robert Bing’s apartment in occupied Paris.

The work was looted by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), a German task force dedicated to appropriating cultural property. After the painting was seized, it was earmarked for the collection of one of the most powerful Nazis, Hermann Goering.

The museum suggested to the investigation panel that Allied soldiers found the painting hidden in secret tunnels near the Nazi elite's retreat at Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, though this is disputed by the descendants of Robert Bing.

The report details how the painting resurfaced in 1951 when it was sold by the Swiss art dealer Kurt Meissner to the London art dealership, Arthur Tooth & Sons. The painting was then bought from the dealership by the Dean of York, Eric Milner-White. Milner-White subsequently donated the painting to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1951.

The report found the descendants of Robert Bing to have a strong claim to restitution stating: “This is a deliberate seizure by the German authorities from a Jewish citizen of France with the diversion of the work of art to Nazi leaders. No other reason for seizure other than the Jewishness of Mr Bing has appeared to explain this seizure.”

Alongside its non-binding recommendation for the painting to be returned, the report also stated: “This recommendation implies no criticism of the Museum or the original donor, The Very Reverend Eric Milner-White, who have acted honourably and in accordance with the standards prevailing at the time of acquisition and since. The Museum has cared for the work so that it can now be restored to the heirs of the original owners.”

A spokesperson for the Fitzwilliam Museum confirmed to ITV News that it would follow the recommendations.

This is not the first instance of a University of Cambridge museum returning items held in its collection.

Last year, Varsity reported that Cambridge University that it would seek to return its collection of 116 looted Benin bronzes, held by the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The decision was made following a claim by Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

In October 2021, Jesus College officially handed back the Okukor Bronze that had been looted during Britain’s 1897 colonial expedition of Benin, becoming the first UK institution to return a looted Bronze.