As museums encounter increasing claims on their collections, experts say much of the debate hearkens back to 1815, when the Louvre was forced to surrender the spoils of war. "In September 1815, Karl von Müffling, the Prussian governor of Paris, presented himself at the doors of the Louvre and ordered its French guards to step aside. Belgian and Dutch officials, backed by Prussian and British troops, had arrived to reclaim art treasures plundered by the French during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. This moment is recognized by many scholars as a sea change in political attitudes toward the spoils of war and is seen as the birth of repatriation, the concept of returning cultural goods taken in times of conflict to the countries from which they were stolen." Nina Siegel for the NYT.

Dutch museum looted by Napoleon does not seek restitution An exhibition at the Mauritshuis in The Hague has revealed that the Dutch are still missing 67 paintings looted by the French in Napoleonic times (Senay Boztas for The Art Newspaper 2023). repatriation previously.