Carabinieri return stolen shovel found in Italy to Belgium

An oil on canvas depicting the “12th Station of the Cross: Jesus Dies on the Cross” has been returned to Belgium by the Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale. The 16th-century painting of the Flemish school was stolen along with 14 other paintings and 7 tapestries on July 1, 1980, in theSainte Waudru Cultural and Religious Institute in Mons, but has now been found and returned to its country of origin.

"The very important altarpiece, which was in the possession of a fence from Ciampino (RM),“ a note explained, ”is part of the more than 100 works seized by personnel of the Carabinieri Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Culturale in Naples as part of the September 2017 operation called ’Start-Up’, which arose as a result of investigations, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Isernia, into thefts from churches and religious institutes, which made it possible to trace the route of this and several other works stolen and put up for sale in antiquarian markets in the province of Rome and in the Capitoline Porta Portese market."

The return, which follows that of another painting stolen from the same Belgian religious structure and recovered in Florence in 1988, demonstrates the importance of the exchange of information, even at the international level, between the various police forces. In the specific circumstance, in fact, the 1980 theft had been reported by the Belgian Authorities toItaly, and the event, accompanied by all the identifying elements of the work, was listed in the Data Bank of illicitly stolen cultural property, managed by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Therefore, thanks to this information, even nearly 40 years later, the stolen and now believed lost asset will be returned home.

Pictured is the rediscovered painting. Copyright Ville de Mons

Carabinieri return stolen shovel found in Italy to Belgium

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