Poland gets Da Vinci painting back

Poland has paid a lot of money for one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most cherished paintings, a report in the BBC said on Friday, but according to some, it was not enough. The so-called Czartoryski collection, of which da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine painting is a part, was sold to the Polish government for PLN 441 million. However, the report  also stated that the collection’s value was actually work closer to PLN 8.5 billion. Poland’s Minister of Culture saw the acquisition, which will continue to be housed in the National Museum in Kraków, as vital to Polish culture. He said, “the sale ensures the right of the Polish nation to the collection.” The sale was not without controversy, however, as the head of the Czartoryski Foundation, which had previously controlled the collection, resigned in protest at the undervalued sale. The collection, which has an estimated 86,000 artifacts and some 250,000 manuscripts and books, includes works by Rembrandt and Renoir in addition to the da Vinci masterpiece. The Ministry of Culture said that it had been working on negotiations for the sale for several months.