Poland's General Conservator of National Heritage and Deputy Minister of Culture has reversed his decision regarding the exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine in Berlin - and the painting will now be allowed to be exhibited in Madrid as well.

Our Krakow correspondent Nicholas Hodge reports

The approval comes in spite of the fact that last week, a panel of experts voted against further loans to museums outside Poland due to the delicate state of the painting, created by the Italian genius in 1489–1490.

Those against the loans insist that the painting is too precious to travel, noting that Leonardo's Mona Lisa has not left the Louvre in years.

Meanwhile, the owners of the canvas, the aristocratic Czartoryski clan, argue that the painting will be “better guarded” on loan as their museum is in the throes of a major renovation programme.

Journalists and cultural luminaries descended on Krakow this morning to hear Chief Conservator Piotr Zuchowski announce his final verdict on what he called “a very serious dilemma,” following long-running friction in the press and academic circles.

Previously, Zuchowski had consented to the painting being flown to London for the forthcoming exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan, on account of the prestige of that show.

Nevertheless, following protests from art historians and the National Museum, he halted further loans.

Although technically, the painting belongs to the Czartoryski Museum – Poland's oldest museum - the institution is currently in a state of limbo, owing to the fact that the collection was nationalised during the communist era.

The collection was regained by Prince Adam Karol Czartoryski in 1991, but the museum continues to receive financial and administrative support from the National Museum.

In 2009, the museum closed and a far-reaching programme of renovation was set in motion. However, loans planned by the Czartoryski family were swift to spark controversy.

“As a foundation – the owner of the painting – we find ourselves in an idiotic situation, in that we do not have the possibility to manage the painting in an intelligent manner, for reasons that are completely incomprehensible to us and the experts in London and Berlin,” said Count Adam Zamoyski, a noted historian and Chairman of the Czartoryski Foundation, after the Berlin loan was cancelled.

 However, today, the foundation appeared to win the battle.

Compromise of sorts

Cracovians are highly protective of the painting, which is regarded as one of the prides of the city. Nevertheless, those disappointed by today's verdict have been granted a measure of consolation.

According to an official memorandum signed today by Prince Adam Czartoryski, General Conservator Piotr Zuchowski, National Museum Director Zofia Golubiew and Malopolska Chief Conservator Jan Janczykowski, the painting is set to return to Krakow for a considerable spell:

“In February 2012 [following the three forthcoming exhibitions] the painting will be returned to Krakow and placed in the National Museum in Krakow where it will be displayed until the end of the renovation of the Czartoryski Museum,” the agreement stipulates, as read this morning by Vice Director of the National Museum, Marek Swica.

What's more, following the return of the painting, a protection period “of at least ten years” will be enforced, during which the canvas “will not be subject to any loan unless – due to special circumstances – the signatories of the present memorandum unanimously decide otherwise.”

Furthermore, the painting will be the focus of a major scientific project, “aiming to establish and systematise complete knowledge about it, as well as to promote it worldwide, consolidating the importance of this unique piece of art.

Speaking to Polish Radio, Prince Adam Czartoryski expressed his enthusiasm for the agreement, acknowledging that a lot of the stipulations “should have been laid down a long time ago, after the collection was regained in 1991.”

The prince, who grew up in exile, also enthused about the vast transformation that Poland has undergone since the collapse of communism, adding that his late father and grandfather “would have been very proud” of Poland's resurgence.

Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine was confiscated by Nazi governor Hans Frank during the Second world War. The same fate befell another celebrated painting in the Czartoryski collection, Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man.

The whereabouts of the latter remain a mystery until today. (pg)