The works stolen after the L'Aquila earthquake? Ended up in some villas on the Amalfi coast. Recovered by carabinieri

In an important operation launched last September, Carabinieri from the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit recovered thirty-seven works of art, created between the 16th and 20th centuries, of which five were altarpieces stolen from two churches in the province of L’Aquila that were declared uninhabitable after the 2009 earthquake. These were, in particular, five works painted between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which were located in the churches of St. Nicholas in Capestrano and St. James the Apostle in Scoppito. Other works recovered included part of a polyptych from the church of San Rocco in Formia (Latina, Italy), painted by Girolamo Stabile (active in the 16th century in southern Italy), and a Christ in the Garden attributed to Guido Reni (Bologna, 1575 - 1642), stolen from a house in Frattamaggiore (province of Naples), owned by a Neapolitan noble family.

The work of the military was decisive in dismantling acriminal organization guilty of stealing the works of art. A total of three people were reported at large: they were allegedly responsible for 16 thefts carried out over 20 years. The thieves then put the works on the market: those from Aquila were purchased by wealthy collectors who used them to decorate some luxury villas on the Amalfi Coast, which hosted wealthy Russian tourists during vacation periods. In fact, the presence of the works was deemed suitable to increase the appeal of these accommodations.

Image: the headquarters of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Piazza Sant’Ignazio in Rome. Credit

The works stolen after the L'Aquila earthquake? Ended up in some villas on the Amalfi coast. Recovered by carabinieri

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