(ANSA) – GENOA, JUN 16 – A pair of octagonal-shaped paintings, depicting “San Giovanni Battista” and “Santa Caterina”, stolen 22 years ago from the Abbey of Santa Maria a Vigesimo in Barberino del Mugello in Florence along with six others paintings, were recovered by carabinieri of the nucleus for the protection of cultural heritage (TPC) of Genoa and will be returned to the archdiocese of Florence in the next few days.
The discovery and consequent seizure had taken place in an auction house in Genoa. A collector resident in Turin who had in good faith bought the works from an antiquarian fellow citizen, who died in 2009. The investigations of the Tpc carabinieri continue to go back to the authors of the theft “which was facilitated by the absence in the church. of a permanent priest and it happened without burglary “explains the commander of the nucleus Antonio Quarta who also hopes to be able to recover the other six paintings.
“It is very important that the thefts are reported as soon as possible – adds the commander of the provincial nucleus Gianluca Feroce – so that the goods do not end up on sale abroad where it is more difficult to recover them”. The two paintings, which had been put up for sale at a value of a few thousand euros each, were recognized by the specialized military thanks to the checks carried out by constantly comparing the catalogs of the auction houses with the “Database of illegally stolen cultural assets” managed by the TPC command, the largest sector database in the world for quantity of images and computerized data. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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