- The case of Klimt stolen in Piacenza has been reopened
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10 December 2019After years of hypotheses and mysteries, a turning point could be close in the case of the painting by Gustav Klimt 'Portrait of a Lady' stolen in 1997 at the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza.During the cleaning of an ivy that covered an external wall of the same gallery, a cavity was discovered closed by a door, inside which there was a sack, with the picture inside.
A first expertise, as far as we learn, would have confirmed that it is the stolen work, one of the most sought after in the world. Further analyzes are underway to certify their authenticity.
The commissioner: "It would be a great result"
"If the authenticity of the analyzes that will be carried out in the coming days would be confirmed, it would be a great result for this city. The fact that the work has been found excellently preserved opens the scenario to a thousand hypotheses," commented the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Piacenza Jonathan Papamarenghi.
A mystery that has lasted for over 20 years
The theft, or alleged theft, of the Portrait of a Lady by Gustav Klimt, was discovered on 22 February 1997. The work disappeared in one of the three previous days. The discovery was late due to a move of this and others to the nearby Piazza Cavalli for an exhibition on Klimt at Palazzo Gotico.
From now on there were many areas of shadow: it was never clear if the masterpiece was taken out of the roof (the frame was found near the skylight) or if the thieves passed by the main entrance. The investigations of the Carabinieri of the Piacenza Operational Department led to investigate the gallery's keepers, whose position was however soon dismissed by the investigating judge due to lack of evidence.
In 2016 the investigation was reopened after the discovery of traces of the DNA of one of the thieves on the frame. A testimony even spoke of an esoteric trail, according to which it would have been used for a satanic ritual.
The masterpiece is part of a group of female portraits made by Klimt in the last years of his activity (between 1916 and 1918), some of which remained unfinished. The picture carries another story: it was painted over another portrait of a woman with a hat, exhibited in Dresden in 1912, then reported missing. In reality the Austrian master had retouched it, transforming it into a picture that disappeared in Piacenza in 1997.