New Clues Emerge in Search for Stolen Caravaggio
The nativity scene taken from Sicilian chapel in 1969 may have ended up in Switzerland
By Meilan Solly
In October 1969, two thieves wielding razor blades removed a Caravaggio nativity scene from its frame above the altar of a Sicilian oratory. The stolen masterpiece is ranked among the F.B.I.’s list of top 10 international art crimes. In the almost 50 years that have passed since the robbery, theories as to its whereabouts have run rampant. The work — widely believed to have been stolen by local mafia — was rumored to have suffered irreparable damage by fire, been left in an abandoned farmhouse and gnawed up by rats, or simply cosied up in a mobster’s bedroom.
Last week, however, Italian investigators announced a new lead in the cold case, reigniting hopes of recovering the early 17th-century work, “Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence†intact.
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/former-mobster-offers-clues-search-stolen-caravaggio-180969231/#IIaQObW4rh5uhMvc.99
