An American soldier holds "Cat and Mirror" by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

An American soldier holds the painting "Cat and Mirror" painted by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin in 1749, one of the many valuable works of art found in the Neuschwarstein Castle at Fussen in Bavaria. Many paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Da Vinci, Titian, Van Dyck, Raphael, Goya, and Michelangelo were among the masterpieces, together with the Rothschild collections, the famous Ghent altarpiece, Renaissance jewelry and silver collections, and illuminated manuscripts. Tapestries and rugs were piled one-third of a meter high over the entire floor of a room of about 25 meters in length inside the castle. [National Archives ID# 540138]