Surely the so-called Rothschild Prayer Book which goes on display at the National Library of Australia on Friday could just as accurately be called the Stokes Prayer Book in recognition of its recent change of ownership.
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The Rothschilds' only connection with the early 16th-century masterpiece was buying it under mysterious circumstances and then keeping it under lock and key in their private museum for decades.
It passed out of the hands of the uber-rich banking dynasty in 1938 thanks to the efforts of Nazi looters, reportedly acting on behalf of Herr Hitler (a well known art fancier himself), following the Austrian anschluss.
The surprisingly substantial artwork, which has been crafted on animal skin parchment and truly deserves the overworked appellation of masterpiece, eventually made its way into a dubious form of public "ownership" when it was unearthed from some secret salt mine and given to the National Library of Vienna (then controlled by a Nazi regime) in 1942.
Unlike many other artistic treasures, the prayer book, also known as a "book of hours", survived World World II. But, even after the fat lady sang, the post-war Austrian government refused to give it back.
The treasure, which contains 67 exquisite paintings, a divinely illustrated calendar and prayers for every occasion, went back into its basement while the legal stoush between the unrepentant Austrian state and the Rothschilds blew itself out.
Within months of being returned to the family in 1999 the book was placed on the market (probably to pay off the lawyers) and sold to a mystery collector for an undisclosed sum.
The end result of all the wrangling was a beautiful work of art, believed to have been created between 1505 and 1510 and off the radar for the better part of three centuries until being unearthed by the Rothschilds who locked it away from the world in a darkened room, found its way into yet another darkened room in yet another mystery location.
That changed in January 2014, when yet another mystery bidder snapped it up for $15.5 million (including buyer's premium) during a minute-long auction at Christie's.
We now know the buyer was Kerry Stokes and, thanks to his son, Ryan, we also know he did not expect to succeed.
"It was not a flippant purchase but he (Kerry Stokes) saw the prospect of acquiring it as slim," Ryan Stokes said on Thursday. "It was a long shot. He thought it was a good fit for that period in Europe with the beginning of the age of exploration that led to the discovery of Australia."
Kerry Stokes was, understandably, chuffed to discover he had the deepest pockets on the day last January.
"He was running off adrenalin for days afterwards because of the excitement of what happened," Ryan Stokes said.
Both Kerry and Ryan Stokes were at the NLA on Thursday night for a special presentation on the book's significance and its history.
This was the curtain raiser for an exhibition that will run until August 9 which gives the public direct access to an exquisite item, crafted by some of the most talented Netherlandish artists and artisans of the 1500s as both a status symbol and an object for private devotions.
Over the next four months tens of thousands of people will be able to see something that may, at best, have been appreciated by a few hundred over the course of its existence.
While few have $15.5 million to spend on a work of art even fewer could look at this and remain unmoved. It is a window into other worlds and other times.
While I doubt Kerry Stokes would contemplate attaching his name directly to this acquisition, his willingness to put it on show gives him a greater claim to being associated with it than the Rothschilds ever had.
Thank you for sharing.
