It’s a story that could sound like a plot right out of an Indiana Jones and the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” movie.

And you will find out how it came about when the Allentown Art Museum holds a panel discussion by experts from a renowned auction house about a work of art sold to the Nazis that ended up in the museum’s collection.

Henry Bromberg sold works from his collection, including “Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony,” while fleeing Nazi Germany.

“Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony” (ca. 1534) by Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop was purchased by the Allentown Art Museum from a New York gallery in 1961 and has been on view in the Museum ever since.

The Allentown Art Museum has now entered into an agreement with the heirs of Henry Bromberg.

And the Pennsylvania Attorney General has approved the Allentown Art Museum’s decision to deaccession the painting.

In January 2025, “Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony” will be included in Christie’s Old Master sale in New York City.

The Allentown Art Museum will hold a presentation by a panel of experts about Nazi-era art and restitution at 1 p.m. Sept. 28.

The panel includes Richard Aronowitz, Christie’s Global Head of Restitution, and Eileen Brankovic, Christie’s International Business Director of Restitution, moderated by Elaine Mehalakes, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Allentown Art Museum.

“They will delve into the history and scholarship of art restitution, shedding light on the complexities and significance of addressing the injustices of the past,” according to an Aug. 26 press release from Chris Potash. Manager of Marketing and Public Relations, Allentown Art Museum.

Christie’s, founded in 1766, is a world-leading art and luxury business with operations in 46 countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, and flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva.

Meanwhile, the Allentown Art Museum is highlighting “Portrait of George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony” in a display that opened Aug. 29 and continues through Oct. 20, of two paintings owned by Jewish families in Germany in the years leading up to the Second World War, “illustrating the different trajectories of the artworks during and after the Nazi period,” the press release states.

The installation includes educational information about the Allentown Art Museum’s decision to deaccession, or officially remove, “Portrait of George the Bearded” from its collection based on its prior ownership by the Bromberg family of Hamburg, Germany.

“The Allentown Art Museum was pleased to reach a fair and just solution with the Bromberg heirs in the spirit of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi Confiscated Art, and applicable guidance from the International Council of Museums, the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors,” states the press release.

Says Allentown Art Museum President and CEO Max Weintraub, “It was extremely important to the Museum to engage in the ethical dimensions of the painting’s history in the Bromberg family.

“This work of art entered the market and eventually found its way to the Museum only because Henry Bromberg had to flee persecution from Nazi Germany,” Weintraub continues.

“That moral imperative compelled us to act. We hope that this voluntary act by the Museum will inform and encourage similar institutions to reach fair and just solutions.”

In an email to Museum members, Weintraub wrote, “In the summer of 2022, the Museum received a claim to the painting on behalf of the heirs of persecuted Jewish collector Henry Bromberg. Bromberg had owned the painting until 1938, when he sold it while fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany.

“The Allentown Art Museum and the Bromberg family have reached an amicable resolution to the family’s ownership claims to the painting. The Museum reached this agreement after considerable research and guided by outside counsel experienced in the field of art restitution.

“Throughout these negotiations, the Museum has been steadfast in its pursuit of a fair and just outcome that would reflect our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest ethical standards of collections stewardship. This settlement achieves that goal,” Weintraub stated.

Says the Bromberg family, “We are pleased that another painting from our grandparents’ art collection was identified and are satisfied that the Allentown Art Museum carefully and responsibly checked the provenance of the portrait of ‘George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony’ and the circumstances under which Henry and Hertha Bromberg had to part with it during the Nazi-period.

“After emigration to the United States, our grandparents first settled in New Jersey. After several years, they moved to Yardley [Bucks County], to be near their son Edgar and his family. This makes the fair and just solution for the painting in the Allentown Art Museum particularly special.”

Admission to the Allentown Art Museum is free. There is free parking in the museum’s lot at Fifth and Linden streets. The galleries are open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, and until 8 p.m. on Third Thursdays of the month. Information: https://www.allentownartmuseum.org/