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Alain Monteagle, the claimant, has stated that The Valley of the Stour was auctioned off after the 1942 death of collector Anna Jaffe without her permission under a law that required the property of Jews living in France to be confiscated and sold.

The early-19th-century painting, valued today at around a million Swiss francs ($958,000), changed hands several times over the years, and was eventually donated to the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1986 by Madeline Junod, who bequeathed the work as part of a collection under the condition that it remain permanently housed in a specific room at the institution. Junod also required that the collection never be divided.

Museum officials say that legal advisers have informed them that the stipulations of the donation forbid its return to Monteagle. They also note that there is no requirement under Swiss law to restitute property confiscated by the Nazis. “So we don’t have the right to return it,” Remy Gogniat, a city spokesman said.

Museum officials have stated that they plan to display a plaque near the painting that explains the history of the work. Monteagle has not yet responded to the museum’s statements.

Read more at the Associated Press.