Poland picks up €2 billion art collection for €100 million; Rembrandt works incl.

The Polish government reached a deal with a local aristocratic family to buy the family's art collection for 100 million euros. The collection consists of over 300 thousand pieces of art - including a Rembrandt painting and a Leonardo da Vinci - and a library owned by the Czartoryski Foundation. It is valued at over 2 billion euros, Bloomberg reports.

"Landscape with the Good Samaritan" is the Rembrandt painting that is part of the collection. It alone is insured for over 36 million euros. The collection also includes "Lady with an Ermine" by Leonardo da Vinci, which is insured for 300 million euros when it travels.

Poland hopes that purchasing the collection will evoke "a special kind of pride among Poles", Piotr Glinski, Polish Minister of Culuture, said according to Bloomberg. The country also wants to make sure that the art doesn't travel abroad anymore. "There are 14 Leonardo da Vinci paintings left in the world and we have one of the greatest The lady with an Ermine may be of better quality than the Mona Lisa. It's really worth appreciating."

When asked why he let the collection go at a fraction of its valued price, founder of the Czartoryski Foundation Adam Karol Czartoryski told journalist at a news conference in Warsaw: "In life you do things that you're willing to do. I felt like making a donation and that's my choice."