A 49-year-old Greek man has confessed to the theft of art work by Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian from Athens’ Nationwide Gallery in 2012.
Authorities arrested the person on Monday after he led police to a website in a forested space exterior of Athens, the place the art work had been securely wrapped and buried within the riverbed of a gorge, the Residents’ Safety Ministry stated on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The cache included Picasso’s 1939 portrait “Head of a Girl,” and Mondrian’s 1905 portray, “Panorama with a Mill,” a uncommon representational work from the Dutch cubist painter.
A pen-and-ink sketch by Renaissance artist Guglielmo Caccia was initially included within the haul however discarded after being broken shortly after the heist befell.
The suspect, a development employee, in response to the Unbiased, acted alone within the early morning hours on Jan. 9, 2012 when he mislead guards by tripping a number of alarms earlier than in the end breaking and eradicating the works. The intelligent wrongdoer was already taking off by the point a guard noticed the thief, Reuters defined.
A fourth portray, Mondrian’s “Panorama with a Farm,” was initially taken as effectively, however shortly dropped because the robber made his getaway.
At a information convention on Tuesday, Residents’ Safety Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis confirmed that the works would return to the Nationwide Gallery for exhibition.
Tradition minister Lina Mendoni additionally defined why the return of “Head of a Girl” was poignant for the folks of Greece, who had acquired the portray as a donation from the painter himself — a token of appreciation for his or her resistance to fascism throughout World Struggle II.
The again of the art work bore the inscription: “For the Greek folks, a tribute from Picasso.”
Stated Mendoni, “That’s the reason why it was unimaginable for the portray not solely to be offered, but in addition to be exhibited wherever.”
