She explained that "usually corporate collections are not insured to full value, because nobody ever anticipates a total loss."

Among the high-priced, publicly displayed items obliterated were works such as "Sphere" by Fritz Koenig, valued at $1 million; "Red Stabile" by Alexander Calder, valued at $1.5 million; "World Trade Center Tapestry" by surrealist artist Joan Miro, valued at $2 million; and "World Trade Center Plaza Sculpture" by Masayuki Nagare, valued at $1 million, Ms. Fischer said.

AXA, she said, insured collections owned by the Cantor Fitzgerald firm and Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein.

One example of an undervalued collection destroyed in the attacks were the 200 pieces, including historic maritime prints and oil portraits of founding partners, that were housed in the Trade Center offices of the Thacher Proffitt & Wood law firm. The attorneys now have space a few blocks away at 2 World Financial Center.

Joseph G. Grasso, a partner in the firm, said the concern had photographs of the large oil portraits and considered having an artist recreate them. The cost of replacing them, however?at $5,000 to $10,000 each?was prohibitive.

Though the firm had good insurance coverage and "wonderful treatment by our underwriter," he said the art collection was "one area where we were probably undervalued, just because it had been with us for so long and much of it was historical."

Mr. Grasso said the firm had an inland marine fine art rider to its overall property policy, which had a blanket limit of $100,000 for art. He estimated the art's worth to be double that amount. One painting alone, a "nice oil painting that was a contemporary still life," cost $10,000 to $15,000, he said.

"We've replaced almost all of it," he said. "We still need to buy a few pieces and we're looking for works. But the reception and conference room areas are filled."

Since the loss, he said the firm has learned a lesson. "Now we know exactly what we spent on the new pieces and that will be the number on our current policy," he said. "So we're insuring everything we just bought for the amount we paid for it."

The new fine art collection is insured for replacement costs, which would run between $300,000 and $500,000, Mr. Grasso said.

Before the attack there was a lot of artwork, not a major collection or major works of art, but things the firm had accumulated over more than 100 years," said Mr. Grasso. Most of the law firm's collection hung in its 100,000 square feet of office space. The rest of the collection was in storage, also at the Trade Center, he said.

"We have now about completed massing and reinstalling what we lost," he said. "We have purchased old maritime prints and new contemporary paintings and photographs."

Thacher Proffitt & Wood hired an art consultant to locate prospective artwork for the firm. Mr. Grasso said he and other members of an art committee previewed art work at a "large number of galleries." An antique ship model on display in the firm's reception area was recently replaced with another model purchased at an auction at Christy's, he said.