Germany Fights for Rubens

Germany renewed its demand last night for the return from Moscow of a priceless Rubens oil painting that mysteriously vanished during the second world war. The Russian businessman who is refusing to give it back was threatened with legal action.

Germany's culture minister, Christina Weiss, said yesterday that she would be raising the case of the missing Rubens with her Russian opposite number, Alexander Sokolov. The dispute threatens to overshadow a meeting between Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Mr Putin, one of Mr Schröder's closest allies, was due in Hamburg last night.

Tarquin and Lucretia was painted by Peter Paul Rubens between 1609 and 1612 and shows the mythological rape of Lucretia, a chaste Roman wife. It is one of the Flemish master's finest early works.

"The painting is the most important work missing from the collection of Berlin's museum and gardens foundation. We would like it back," a cultural ministry spokesman said yesterday. "We will be raising this during bilateral discussions."

The Germans have been trying to get the Rubens back since a consortium of businessmen offered it for sale last year. It disappeared in 1945 from a castle near Berlin.

The Russian businessman who now says he "owns" the painting, Vladimir Logvinenko, insists he bought it legitimately in 1999 from a Russian antiques dealer.

Two months ago a court in Germany ruled that the German government had not produced enough evidence to show the Rubens was stolen.

Yesterday, however, Ms Weiss indicated that she might now launch a private action in the Russian courts.

"When Mr Logvinenko bought the painting, it was folded up and badly damaged. It didn't have a frame. Our case is that he bought it in bad faith," Ms Weiss's spokesman said.

It appears that a Russian officer acquired the painting in April 1945 as the Red Army overwhelmed Nazi Germany - possibly from a country mansion belonging to Joseph Goebbels, where it had hung in the bedroom of one of the Nazi propaganda minister's many lovers.

The painting then disappeared. It appears to have remained in the officer's family until his daughter sold it for a few hundred dollars. It has a well-documented history.

Frederick the Great bought it in 1765 for his collection; the painting was last seen in 1942 in a gallery in Potsdam.

Art experts agree that despite its poor condition it is worth around €80m (£55m).

Earlier this year Russia's prosecutor general's office ruled that Mr Logvinenko was the Rubens' rightful owner, and said he didn't break any Russian law in acquiring it. Pieces of art stolen by Soviet troops from Germany remain a sensitive subject in Russia.

Many Russians regard them as compensation for the devastation caused by Hitler's invasion. Germany has been negotiating with Russia since 1991 for the restitution of some 200,000 artefacts, while Russia has claims on icons and other artworks stolen by German troops earlier in the war.

Mr Logvinenko appears unapologetic. "I don't want anything more to do with the Germans," he told the Russian daily Izvestia this year. "At least not until they offer me a full apology."