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# Romania demands return of El Greco painting owned by Dmitry Rybolovlev
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/rumyniia-trebuet-vernut-kartinu-el-greko-prinadlezhashchuiu-dmitriiu-rybolovlevu/
- Published: 2025-06-23T11:48:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:29:40.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Monarchies, Museums, Heritage

In February of this year the auction house Christie’s withdrew from sale El Greco’s “Saint Sebastian” after the Romanian authorities declared that the painting had been unlawfully taken out of the country.

The canvas was acquired by King Carol I at the end of the nineteenth century and formed part of the royal family’s collection. In 1914 it was officially transferred to the state and became part of the national collection.

According to Christie’s, after his abdication in 1947 King Michael I left Romania and took the painting with him with the consent of the authorities. In 1976 the work turned up at the New York gallery Wildenstein & Co., and then, as has come to light only recently, passed by way of a deal with the art dealer Yves Bouvier to the billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

The Romanian government maintains that no consent to the removal of the painting was ever given, and that it remains state property. The authorities demand that “Saint Sebastian” be returned to the National Museum of Art of Romania in Bucharest. Legal proceedings are under way.