Book Review: The Monuments Men… 8.1.2014

In anticipation of the George Clooney film, “The Monuments Men”, which opens next month, I thought this may be a good time to discuss the book it was based on: "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History" (September, 2010) by Robert M. Edsel.

When most of us think of World War II, the far-ranging impact that the war had on Europe’s cultural and artistic legacy doesn’t immediately come to mind. “The Monuments Men” tells the story of a small group of men and women from several countries who worked together to preserve this legacy, without the help of which some of our most prized artistic treasures would have been lost forever.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first portion of the book, which deals primarily with the development of the MFAA, the idea of which pre-dates America’s involvement in the war. I quickly found myself becoming entirely vested in the question top museum directors in the United States posed regarding the impact a war could have on cultural, historical and artistic treasures and how they took the initiative and held meetings to discuss what they could do should the war come to us.

The MFAA at its height boasted approximately 350 members from all levels and disciplines within the art community: museum directors, pioneers in conservationism (a new art at the time), curators, art scholars, artists and architects, but at its inception, there were fewer than 12 MFAA men on the ground in France. Edsel tells the story of those men and their struggle to perform the tasks they faced within an Allied Army that initially didn’t know what to do with them and how they overcame the limitations of supplies and transportation.

The remainder of the book includes chapters focusing on the following:

Monte Cassino, the Benedictine Abbey in Italy destroyed by controversial Allied bombings in February of 1944. 

The saving of the Bayeux Tapestry.

The theft and ultimate recovery of Michelangelo’s “Bruges Madonna” – rumored to be the only piece of sculpture to leave Italy during the artist’s lifetime.

Jan Vermeer’s “The Astronomer"

 Jan van Eyck’s “The Ghent Altarpiece”

The near destruction of Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” in Milan, Italy.

·                                                   Edsel also details several of the most well-known Nazi art depositories:

Merkers Salt Mine – This is where the Nazi gold reserves and most of their artistic treasures were hidden.

Altausse Salt Mine - This mine needed to be dug out as most of the tunnels were collapsed in a bid to save the artwork from Hitler’s Nero Decree.

Neuchwanstein Castle (aka Mad Ludwig’s castle) took the MFAA approximately six weeks to remove all of the artwork stored there.

Edsel provides an update on the status of the artwork in the final chapters of the book which includes a short list of major artworks that are still unaccounted for (approximately 10,000 pieces), including the personal collection of SS Chief Heinrich Himmler (rumored to have been burned), the Amber Panels of Peter the Great (looted from the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg and believed to be destroyed) and Raphael’s “Portrait of a Young Man”, said to be the most important piece missing. Out of curiosity, I Google imaged Raphael’s painting to see if there was a photo of it somewhere and there was a hit for a short article stating that in 2012 the painting had been discovered in a bank vault and had recently been returned to Cracow, Poland.

Raphael’s “Portrait of a Young Man"

My reading for the past nine months has been primarily non-fiction and this was my first “military” non-fiction book, so I was highly relieved to find a minimum of military jargon and tactics. I found myself being thoroughly caught up in the search for the missing artwork, yet, at the same time, I was absolutely horrified at the audacity of the thefts. I had the good fortune to have been able to make several trips to Europe in the early 2000’s and am now acutely aware that my visits to the great museums of France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands could have been vastly different had not for the hard work and determination of the MFAA.

Edsel has also written: “Saving Italy”, a companion book to “The Monuments Men”, and “Rescuing Da Vinci”.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about the Monuments Men, please check out: www.monumentsmen.com.

The film is expected to be released on 7 February, 2014.

Jenn White

White Rooster Studios