Italian art thief caught
May 30 2017
Picture: The Telegraph
The Telegraph reports that a Swedish academic has helped uncover the activities of a prolific Italian art thief:
Swedish academic who bought a rare antique Italian manuscript online from a university student in Bologna has helped police uncover a trove of stolen artwork and books.
When his online purchase arrived from Italy to Sweden, the perspicacious professor from Lund University noticed a small antique ink stamp from the “Royal Library of Turin” on one of the pages and became concerned about the manuscript’s provenance.
[...]
The professor contacted officials at the Italian embassy in Sweden, who informed the Italian Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale art fraud squad.
The article says that a valuable Van Dyck has been recovered. In the photo of the haul above we can see what appears to be a small copy of Van Dyck's 'Raising of the Cross' in Kortrijk, Holland. It could of course be an unknown colour sketch, though there isn't one listed in the 2004 Van Dyck catalogue raisonné.
