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International Edition
May 24, 2012 Last Updated: 12:31:PM EDT

Multimillion-Dollar Hoard of Renaissance and Modern Art Found in Polish Outhouse

English

Multimillion-Dollar Hoard of Renaissance and Modern Art Found in Polish Outhouse

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Telegraph UK
200 works of art worth millions of dollars were discovered in the outhouse of a 92-year-old former bricklayer in Poland.
by Kyle Chayka
Published: September 28, 2011

You never know what you might find hidden in your bathroom. 

A stash of art dating from the High Renaissance through the Modernist period and worth millions of dollars has been discovered in the outhouse of a 92-year-old former bricklayer in Poland.

The 200 works were discovered "mixed up with junk in the dirty and dusty concrete building in the bricklayer's garden near the north-western city of Szczecin," according to the Telegraph. One of the works, a 1903 lithograph by painter and architect Jozef Czajkowski, is registered as among the art looted from a museum in the southern Polish city of Katowice during World War II. Another has been dated to 1532.

How the bricklayer, identified as Mr. Antoni, came upon the paintings is unknown; he has been left unable to communicate after a series of strokes. But a Belgian news service reports that early investigation suggests that he "may have dug up the collection in the '60s" during a building project, and then hid his discoveries in the outhouse building. Antoni has been placed under formal investigation for handling stolen art, according to the Telegraph. 

Having been stored for decades in a moist, dusty environment, the works are currently in poor condition. They have been transferred to the National Museum in Szczecin and are currently being studied by Polish and Italian art historians.

 

 

 

  

 

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