Talk:The Astronomer (Vermeer)

Information on the painting
To someone who can be bothered to expand this page: try this site for ideas: [] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by R160K (talk • contribs) 20:22, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

Louvre
There is a dispute concerning how the painting entered the collection of the Louvre. As a donation or as a tax payment to the state. Opinions are welcome here...Modernist (talk) 03:50, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * So far the only online sources I'm finding state that the painting was either sold or donated to the Louvre. If it was intended as a tax payment there needs to be a source to support the claim. JNW (talk) 04:20, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I re-added the reference by Barbiedrag that mentions inheritance tax, I'd like another source however...Modernist (talk) 04:24, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Found and added. JNW (talk) 04:32, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for that addition, good find - the gift seems to be part of some complicated negotiations and not just something to clear up a tax liability...Modernist (talk) 04:35, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Funny how the health of the market determins the goodwill behind such things. Ceoil  22:09, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

During the Nazi Years
I recently came across some info on this painting's history, but since I am not an expert I will leave it to others to determine if this is relevant for the article. The painting's whereabouts during the Nazi years was described in the book The Devil’s Diary: Alfred Rosenberg and the Stolen Secrets of the Third Reich by Robert K. Wittman an David Kinney (2016). Wittman is a noteworthy expert on recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis during World War II, and the book's subject, Alfred Rosenberg, was in charge of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg operation that is already mentioned in the article. The book describes that the painting was hidden for a few years in a salt mine near the village of Alt Aussee, Austria and was discovered by Allied investigators shortly after the end of the war. Hitler had apparently planned to keep it for his personal collection. This is described in Chapter 22 of the Wittman/Kinney book; sorry I can't provide precise page numbers because I was reading an e-book version that rearranged the original page numbers. ---  DOOMSDAYER 520 (Talk&#124;Contribs) 17:09, 23 April 2020 (UTC)