In a museum storage depot in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, a 17th-century painting by a Dutch old master is packed away, unseen and unappreciated. Once the property of an elderly British-Jewish couple living in France, it was seized by Nazi collaborators during World War II and sold to Hermann Göring, Hitler’s second in command.

Because of an administrative error in the war’s aftermath, it ended up in the Netherlands, where it was displayed in a museum for decades. The collectors’ heirs sought its return in 2006, and the country investigated the case and recommended restitution the following year. But the family still doesn’t have the painting back, and they don’t know when that will ever happen.

Standing between the family and the painting are a few missing documents and a diligent Dutch civil notary who won’t let it go until he gets them.

“We, the heirs, are regarded in the Dutch system as crooks who are eager to make money on a sale, not as victims of looting,” said Alain Monteagle, a 77-year-old retired history teacher who has led the family’s quest for the painting’s return. “The longer this goes on, the more complicated it becomes, and eventually there will be no one to receive the painting who saw it before the war.”

Linen and Lace

The painting, “Unloading the Hay Wagon,” was one of about 100 by Isaac van Ostade, the son of a Haarlem linen weaver, who died at age 24 in 1649. His works are not among the most sought-after of Dutch 17th-century masters; the highest auction price was about $100,000.

Centuries passed before the oil painting was purchased by John Jaffé, a Belfast-based exporter of Irish linen and lace, and his wife, Anna Jaffé (born Gluge), the daughter of the King of Belgium’s personal physician. In their old age, the Jaffés bought a villa in Nice, France, and filled it with art by Rembrandt, Goya, J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and others.