Provenance Research

Provenance research is a scientific discipline that deals with the origin of artworks and cultural artefacts. Its main objective is to reconstruct the history and origin of an object, in particular to determine whether it was acquired unlawfully during its history.

Provenance research often requires the analysis of documents, archives and historical records to trace the journey of an object from its creation to the present day. It is of great importance in the context of colonial conquests and the Nazi era. Many works of art and cultural assets were acquired unlawfully, expropriated under duress or stolen.