Interior of Antwerp Cathedral

Indianapolis, Indiana native Robert G. Gossett, an American soldier, took possession of the painting near Hof, Germany, in 1945;{1} purchased by Caroline Marmon Fesler [1878-1960], Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1946; bequeathed to the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 1961. {1} Gossett offered the painting to IMA Director, Wilbur D. Peat, in 1945, reporting that he received the painting by trade with a Russian officer, whereupon Peat contacted "The American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas" in Washington, D.C. for advice. The Department of State opened a file on this painting: it is included as #3 on the list "Objects Imported by Members of the Services Reported to the Commission to date, 30 April 1946" (NARA, College Park, Maryland, Ardelia Hall collection, RG59, lot 62, D-4, Box 1). In an effort to trace the former owner, correspondence was conducted by the State Department with several American embassies and archives, none of which proved conclusive (see ibid., Box 9). In 2003, research was begun anew at IMA enlisting the efforts of Sarah Jackson and her European colleagues at the Art Loss Register, but the former owner remains unidentified.