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Stolen $66 million painting found in museum wall is authentic

Philip J. Heijmans (Bloomberg)
Mon, January 20, 2020

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Stolen $66 million painting found in museum wall is authentic This file image grabbed from a video taken in Piacenza on December 11, 2019 and handout by the Italian State Police on December 12, 2019 shows Police officers standing by a painting stolen over 20 years ago and for which initial indications suggest that it was painted by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, found by chance in the gardens of a museum in Piacenza, northern Italy. (Polizia di Stato/AFP/AFP)

T

he mystery surrounding a $66 million painting deepened last month after it resurfaced in the walls of an Italian gallery nearly 23 years after it was reported stolen.

Municipal officials announced on Friday that the painting by Austrian symbolist artist Gustav Klimt, created between 1916-1917, is authentic.

Gardeners at the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art in northern Italy’s Piacenza province discovered Klimt’s “Portrait of a Lady” in a bag within a wall while they were clearing ivy, the New York Times said.

Read also: World's most costly painting on Saudi prince's yacht: Report

ABC News reported last month that the painting was believed to have been stolen in 1997 while it was being moved into another building. Suspicion surrounding its disappearance resurfaced in 2016 when a trace of DNA was found on its frame, which investigators discovered on the roof.

On Friday, it was declared authentic by experts following technical testing of the work, municipal mayor Patrizia Barbier said in a statement.

“It is news of historical importance for the artistic and cultural community and for the city of Piacenza,” she said.

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