The mayor of the city of Amiens in northern France asked the “queen of pop” Madonna to lend her city a 19th-century painting lost during the First World War.

The municipal authorities believe that the painting was probably acquired by the singer and that its transfer to Amiens will help the city in its quest to become the cultural capital of Europe. The painting Diana and Endymion by Jérôme-Martin Langlois depicts the Roman goddess Diana lovingly looking at the beautiful Endymion.

The work was once exhibited in a museum in Amiens, but was lost after the German bombardment of the city in 1918. The French newspaper Le Figaro reported that the painting, or an almost identical painting, was up for sale at an auction in New York. in 1989, and Madonna paid $1.3 million for the project.

Amiens, home of French President Emmanuel Macron, is a candidate for European Capital of Culture for 2028. The mayor specifies that the legal ownership of the Madonna painting is not disputed: “(…) but we are candidates for the European Capital of Culture in 2028. So, I would like to take this opportunity this year to lend us your painting,” commented Brigitte Fouret in a video posted on Facebook.

The painting was commissioned by King Louis XVIII of France for Diana’s room in the Palace of Versailles and was acquired by the state in 1873.

Fouret calculated that the painting was probably loaned by the Louvre to the Amiens Museum before the First World War, after which Amiens lost sight of it.

A spokesperson for Madonna did not receive an immediate response to a Reuters email request for comment.