56 Years Ago, October 17th, the Greatest Caravaggio Art Heist Occurred
Where? How? whostolethepainting?
One of the Top 5 Unsolved Art Heists in the World
Where?
In the middle of a dark October night, rain pounded the vehicle driven by a couple of art thieves in Palermo, Italy. They broke into an ancient Oratorio, likely through a window invisible to the street.
How?
Armed with only a box cutter, a rug and ladder they entered the Oratorio and cut the enormous canvas from the frame so carefully not a chip of paint fell to the floor.
Who?
Sicilian mafia? A Swiss Art Dealer? A Private Collector? Or a commission for "a family so powerful that the police couldn't even knock on their door," said Ludovico Gippetto, president of Extroart about the Caravaggio Nativity heist.
What?
The Painting - Caravaggio's Nativity with Saint Lawrence and Saint Francis
The Painter
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio from Lombardy, Italy
1571-1610
"arrogant, rebellious, a murderer," a genius
The Story - Caravaggio's Diary
The Police Report - Translated by Alexander Lucie-Smith
The Police Report - Translated by Alexander Lucie-Smith
Never seen before entries piece together clues of desperation and hopelessness surrounding the art.
The Police Report - Translated by Alexander Lucie-Smith
The Police Report - Translated by Alexander Lucie-Smith
The Police Report - Translated by Alexander Lucie-Smith
“On the night between 17 and 18 October 56 years ago, the oratory was robbed whilst it was pouring outside, and in the silence of a surreal Sin city, the most important work of art in Sicily disappeared. Two thugs used a box cutter, wrapped the work in a carpet and carried it off in the pouring rain. The first stop was the Vernengo icehou
“On the night between 17 and 18 October 56 years ago, the oratory was robbed whilst it was pouring outside, and in the silence of a surreal Sin city, the most important work of art in Sicily disappeared. Two thugs used a box cutter, wrapped the work in a carpet and carried it off in the pouring rain. The first stop was the Vernengo icehouse at the Admiral Bridge; then hiding places near the church of San Ciro and the estates of the Mafia bosses Bontade and Badalamenti, from where - perhaps inside a fruit truck - the painting was delivered to an elusive Swiss dealer, in any case disappearing from Italy.”
Was it the Vatican? Was it the Mafia? Was it Lena? Tell us WHO? Clues found by clicking House of Honor:
