The institutional celebrations for Republic Day in Genoa will coincide with the return of a Baroque work of art to the community. It is the oil-on-canvas painting depicting The Camaldolese Friars, executed by painter Alessandro Magnasco between 1716 and 1718. The artifact, part of the historical collection of the Luxoro family and originally housed within the Museums of Nervi (Genoa) at the Villa Gianettino Luxoro, will be on special display on June 2 in the city’s Palazzo Tursi premises.
The recovery of the cultural asset is the result of a complex investigative activity conducted by the Carabinieri of the Nucleo per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale. The work had been stolen during a theft perpetrated in 2016, during which criminals managed to remove a total lot of ten works of art from the same museum premises. At present, the Magnasco canvas represents the only piece recovered from the entire nucleus stolen 10 years ago.
Investigations by the Arma’s military allowed them to locate the painting within the Palermo antiques market circuit. Once the formal recognition of the work had been carried out, the authorities proceeded to the judicial seizure of the asset, interrupting the chain of illicit fencing that had allowed its movement outside the Ligurian territory. The temporary public exhibition was planned inside the mayor’s representative office in Palazzo Tursi, where the painting will remain accessible to visitors in the afternoon and evening hours, precisely from 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on June 2.
"The return to Genoa of Magnasco’s The Camaldolese Friars is an extraordinary gift for our city on Republic Day, a day when we celebrate the founding values of our community, among which culture and legality occupy a place of honor," comments Culture Councillor Giacomo Montanari. “This work is not only a masterpiece of the early 18th century, but represents a piece of Genoese history and the identity of Villa Luxoro in Nervi. Its return demonstrates the excellence and tenacity of the Carabinieri’s Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, to whom we extend our deepest thanks for watching over and defending our beauty. I invite all citizens on June 2 to Palazzo Tursi, where the painting will be on extraordinary display.”
“The success of this activity has allowed us to return an extraordinarily important work to the community,” explains Alessandro Caprio, commander of the Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Genoa. "Stolen in 2016, the painting was spotted in 2022 by our operators during preventive checks in a market in Genoa. Thanks to the historical memory of the investigation and the effectiveness of our controls, the staff immediately reconnected the work to the one stolen years earlier. This result was made possible by cross-referencing our investigative intuition with our Database of Illicitly Misappropriated Cultural Property, the largest database in the world in which works to be searched are listed. The combination of our operators’ expertise and technological precision allowed us to confirm the identity of the work, which today we are happy to return to the community."
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| Magnasco's Camaldolese Friars return to Genoa: artwork on display for Republic Day |
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