Italian police find stolen 500-year-old painting of Christ in Naples cupboard - ABC News

A 500-year-old painting stolen from a Naples' church museum has been discovered in an apartment on the outskirts of the southern Italian city.

Key points:

• The oil painting is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's famous Salvator Mundi artwork
• The 36-year-old owner of the flat has been arrested
• There was no sign of a break-in at the musuem where the artwork was housed

Staff at the San Domenico Maggiore museum were not even aware the portrait of Christ, believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci's student Giacomo Alibrandi, was missing.

The painting is a copy of the famous Salvator Mundi, attributed to da Vinci himself, that sold for a record $US450 million ($591 million) in New York in 2017, making it the most expensive work sold at auction.

"The painting was found on Saturday thanks to a brilliant and diligent police operation," Naples prosecutor Giovanni Melillo said.

"There was no complaint on the matter and, in fact, we contacted the [church] prior, who was not aware of its disappearance as the room where the painting is kept has not been open for three months."

Leonardo da Vinci's original Salvator Mundi painting set a record when it sold for $591 million in 2017.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth/File)

The museum collection had been closed because of coronavirus restrictions.

Police said a tip-off led them to the apartment at the weekend and they found the painting tucked away in a cupboard.

The 36-year-old owner of the flat was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen goods.

Having returned the painting to the church, police were now investigating how it was stolen in the first place, because there was no sign of a break-in, Mr Melillo said.

"Whoever took the painting wanted it, and it is plausible that it was a commissioned theft by an organisation working in the international art trade," he added

Video images released by police show an empty wall inside a large alcove, secured by locked wooden doors, where the artwork had been housed by the museum.

The arrested man reportedly said he had bought the painting in a flea market.

San Domenico Maggiore, which has been the victim of thefts in the past, houses many important artworks.

Some, including paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian, have been moved to museums in Naples.

Reuters/AFP

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2021-01-19 22:14:00Z
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