250 Neapolitan nativity statues found with total value of two million euros

250 Neapolitan nativitystatues dating back to the 18th century have been recovered by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage: their value amounts to two million euros.

The pieces depict shepherds, angels, knights, magi, ladies, musicians, and animals. At the time of discovery, they were wrapped in newspaper, piled up like any other loot.

This is the “most important finding of shepherds ever,” says prosecutor Paolo Albano. “It all started with a small theft, a chalice and a reliquary, in a small church in the Molise region. But thanks to increasingly extensive investigations and a dense campaign of wiretaps, a criminal network spread throughout the country and a huge number of works of art were found.” However, 49 of these pieces have been recognized among those stolen in three thefts between 1999 and 2000; for the others, the owners remain unknown.

By Easter, the found statues will be displayed in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Naples.

Source: Ansa - Corriere del Mezzogiorno

250 Neapolitan nativity statues found with total value of two million euros

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