LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Nearly five centuries old and worth millions, the painting has been returned to the surviving relatives of the original Jewish owner by U.S. officials.

"Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rascal" by de' Romani was stolen during the occupation of France from Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe, an Italian Jew living in Paris.

Giuseppe died of natural causes in 1940, a month before the Nazis invaded. His children and grandchildren had already fled the country.

According to Reuters, the painting was one of 70 items taken from his collection. It depicts Christ crowned in thorns, carrying a cross and dressed in a copper-colored silk robe. The painting dates back to around 1538.

The collection was sold by the French Vichy government, which was allowed by the Nazis to run parts of France. Gentili's grandchildren filed suit in 1997 to get it back.

In the meantime, the painting had found its way to the Pinacoteca di Brera museum in Milan, Italy, which then loaned it to the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Florida.

Interpol investigators last summer alerted U.S. officials that the painting may have been stolen. The investigators were working on a tip from an employee of Christie's auction house in June 2011.

U.S. Attorney Pamela Marsh ordered the Brogan museum to hold the painting last September instead of returning it to Italy, saying the federal government believed it rightfully belonged to the man's family. According to the Associated Press, the painting had been under the protection of the U.S. government since November.

"Seventy years is a very long time . But it shows that it is never too late to right a wrong," U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Susan McCormick said.

The piece is one of hundreds of thousands of works of art stolen from Jewish families throughout Europe by the Nazis and is among nearly 2,500 works of art and antiquities that Homeland Security Investigations officials have repatriated to 23 countries since 2007.

Gentili's grandson, Lionel Salem, told reporters by telephone on Wednesday that the six heirs plan to sell the work, which he said was due to be auctioned at Christie's in New York in June. The painting has been insured for $2.5 million.

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