Pisa, three fragments by Benozzo Gozzoli return to Monumental Cemetery after 77 years

After 77 years, Pisa’s Monumental Cemetery rediscovers three frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli (Benozzo di Lese di Sandro; Scandicci, 1420 - Pistoia, 1497) that had been stolen from the site, and were recovered by carabinieri from the Monza Cultural Heritage Protection Unit. Major Francesco Provenza, commander of the Monza nucleus, handed the three fragments back yesterday into the hands of the president of theOpera della Primaziale Pisana, Pier Francesco Pacini.

The three fragments were found in 2020, when the Brianza nucleus launched an investigation to counter the international illicit trafficking of cultural goods: it was discovered that a Lombard citizen had the fragments in his possession, and the carabinieri, observing the work, had guessed that its value was very high. The owner had regularly purchased the fragments in the 1990s from an English antiquarian (although it is unclear how the latter obtained the fragments), but thanks to the military’s research it was possible to understand that the three fragments by Benozzo Gozzoli came from the very monumental complex of Pisa Cathedral. The artifacts did not appear in the database of illicitly stolen works, so a discussion with specialists from the Opera della Primaziale and the Superintendence of Pisa and Livorno was necessary.

Thanks to the dialogue with the scholars, therefore, the history of the fragments was reconstructed: these are elements of the decorations of the frescoed corridor of the Monumental Cemetery. They are three faces that come from the cycles of the stories of Jacob and Joseph, which were heavily damaged during the bombing of July 27, 1944: when the bombs stopped falling the frescoes were in pieces, and some fragments were illegally taken away to be resold on the market.

The recovery is in a way dedicated to Deane Keller (1901-1992), a captain in the U.S. Army’s Fifth Army who during World War II commanded the “Monuments Men,” the military art connoisseurs whose job it was to protect war-stricken heritage, and who became famous thanks to the famous George Clooney film. Keller, since May 2000, has rested by his express will in the Pisa Cemetery.

Pisa, three fragments by Benozzo Gozzoli return to Monumental Cemetery after 77 years

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