Naples, Villa Livia janitor arrested: prosecutors say she took ancient works from the museum and sold them off

In Naples, six people have been reached by precautionary measures (two arrests, three house arrests and one obligation to present themselves to the judicial police) issued by the judge for preliminary investigations and the Juvenile Court of the Campania capital as part of a Carabinieri investigation aimed at shedding light on the case of works stolen from the Museum of Villa Livia, an ancient residence within the Grifeo Park in Naples, rich in ancient works of art and also often used as a set for film shoots. Those arrested include the museum’s 49-year-old janitor, and along with her, precautionary measures were also taken against her husband and children, including minors. The crime the indictment charges is that of criminal conspiracy to steal and receive stolen works of art.

The thefts allegedly took place between October 2017 and August 2018: on the basis of the indictment, the spoliations were orchestrated by the woman, with the complicity of the family. The gunmen, on the basis of complaints filed by the museum’s director, discovered that the janitor had set up a system on the basis of which trusted buyers were contacted, to whom photos of the works kept at the museum were sent via online messaging applications, and negotiations for the sale were thus initiated. However, the prices agreed upon by the woman and the clients were much lower than their real value, with the result that the works were sold out. The delivery of the stolen works would be entrusted to the woman’s children.

Among the works that left the museum were works from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, by authors of some importance as well: Consalvo Carelli, Micco Spadaro, Abraham Brueghel, Philipp Peter Roos, Johann Heinrich Roos, and other exponents of the Neapolitan school. In all, 22 paintings, 15 bronze sculptures, as well as marbles, majolica, and silver were found to be missing, all of which were sold off for between 2,000 and 200,000 euros, despite the fact that the value of the works was often almost double.

In addition to the precautionary measures, the investigation also ordered eight search orders against the buyers, who included people active in the Neapolitan antiques market and collectors.

Naples, Villa Livia janitor arrested: prosecutors say she took ancient works from the museum and sold them off

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