Arezzo, an important letter by Giorgio Vasari stolen in 2001 recovered

A handwritten letter by Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, 1511 - Florence, 1574), dated March 18, 1566, stolen in 2001 from the archives of the Fraternita dei Laici in Arezzo, has been returned by the Commander of the Carabinieri Nucleo per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale (Tpc) in Florence, Capt. Claudio Mauti, to the Rector of the Fraternita dei Laici Pier Luigi Rossi. The presentation of this important recovery was held yesterday at the Vasari Auditorium of the Uffizi in Florence.

The letter was found following a report from the auction house Sotheby ’s, which triggered the investigative activity of the personnel of the Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Culturale of Florence: the work of the Carabinieri thus made it possible to locate the precious manuscript. There was no need, as is usually the case in such cases, for a formal request for an international rogatory from the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Arezzo, since, through cultural diplomacy, the owners of the letter (a bona fide Belgian family), having understood the real provenance of the manuscript, made themselves and the staff of the London auction house completely available so that the property could be repatriated to Italy. Thus, on September 7, 2022, at the offices of the Italian Embassy in London, a Sotheby’s delegate spontaneously delivered the manuscript.

Giorgio Vasari’s manuscript letter is a very formal missive sent to the Rectors of the Fraternity to discuss the artist Giovanni Stradano (Jan van der Straet). The body of it also shows links of an economic nature where Vasari also talks about figures and fees on some works and reports on the state of some works. The manuscript appeared to be included in the archives of the Fraternita dei Laici, catalogued and photographed.

The recovery of the letter testifies to the importance of international relations not only between police forces, but also between commercial operators in the field who, armed with a greater sensitivity to public property from other states, cooperate, as in this case, so that they return to the places where they were removed. Always useful and indispensable is the cataloging and photographing of cultural property, which, if provided in the complaint, feeds the “Data Bank of Illicitly Misappropriated Cultural Property,” a fundamental tool for the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage’s military to recover property even after a long time. The Court of Arezzo, given the legal nature of the property, ordered its return to the Fraternita dei Laici of Arezzo under current regulations.

Arezzo, an important letter by Giorgio Vasari stolen in 2001 recovered

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.