Christ appears to his mother after being resurrected (c. 1612-16), before and after restoration
The work was seized before being returned to the exhibition
A valuable painting by the Flemish Old Master Peter Paul Rubens that was taken by Italy's Carabinieri has been returned to an exhibition in Genoa. The ANSA news agency says that the police are still trying to figure out how the work was smuggled out of the country in a complicated plot ten years ago. They are now looking into an official export office in Pisa as part of their investigation. Titled Christ appears to his mother after he has been raised from the dead (around 1612-16). The oil on canvas painting is insured for €4m and shows Christ standing next to a kneeling Madonna in a blue cloak. It had been on display at Genoa's Palazzo Ducale since October, along with 18 signed works by Rubens. On Friday, December 30, 2022, the local branch of the Carabinieri's art hit squad took the painting down. Major Alessandro Caprio, who is in charge of the Carabinieri investigation, told that once the work was returned to the exhibition, it would be shown behind a glass panel.
Charges of illegal export and money laundering
Four Italians, including the work's two owners, its accountant, and the accountant's son, are accused of illegally exporting the work and laundering money. Investigators say that the owners bought the work from the wealthy Italian Cambiaso family for €300,000. They then said the painting was by an unknown Flemish artist and that it was only worth €25,000 so that it could be sent to Prague in 2014. Then, to raise the work's market value, they sold it through companies they had set up in other countries. The Carabinieri also think that the owners got the export certificate from friends who worked at the superintendent export office in Pisa. This office was temporarily closed in 2019 because of "irregularities" in the way certificates were given, the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera reported on Monday. Caprio didn't say anything about the rumors. In 2015, restorers used x-rays to find the original version of the Madonna, which the artist then painted over. Restorers decided to take off the top layer of paint to show the original Madonna. The piece will be on display in Genoa until February when the show ends.
Doubts about the authenticity of the work?
But Vittorio Sgarbi, an art critic who works in the culture ministry as an undersecretary, says the work might not be by Rubens and criticizes Carabinieri for taking it away. "I ask those who did the preliminary investigations on the supposed plot to be more careful and thorough in their assessments so they don't make embarrassing mistakes," Sgarbi wrote in a note that was picked up by the Italian press. In response, Anna Orlando, who helped organize the Genoa show, told La Repubblica that the work's authenticity is "not up for debate."
Selena Mattei
