A 15th-century illuminated page, stolen in the 1980s from the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Rome), was returned to its place of origin during a ceremony held this morning in the Roman basilica. The rededication, which took place on Oct. 29 at 10:30 a.m. in the presence of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, was officiated by Brigadier General Antonio Petti, Commander of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC), who handed over the work to H.Em. Cardinal Vicar, Archbishop Baldassare Reina. The event was attended by the Deputy Prosecutor of Rome, Giovanni Conzo, along with other institutional figures, to underscore the historical and religious significance of the recovery. The miniature, repatriated to Italy in June, represents a fragment of considerable artistic and devotional value, finally returning to the monastic context from which it had been taken.
Attributed to Fra Antonio da Monza, a miniaturist active between Milan and Rome during the pontificate of Alexander VI Borgia, the page depicts the Virgin and Child and was originally part of folio XCIIX (no. 98) of the gradual R preserved at the monastery. Fra Antonio, whose works are now in the Albertina in Vienna and the Kupferstichkabinet in Berlin, received artistic influences from Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci and the Umbrian art of Pinturicchio. The miniature measures 25.6 x 25.6 centimeters and is an important piece of Italian art history. The theft, reported on December 10, 1987, was discovered following the disappearance of numerous illuminated and choral pages between 1981 and 1986.
Historical documentation and photographs of the work, made by scholar Father Bellarmino Bagati in his publication Nuove osservazioni su Fra Antonio da Monza that appeared in La Bibliofilia in 1935, provided essential references for the identification of the miniature during the investigation. The investigative activities conducted by the Carabinieri TPC, under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Rome, included methodical checks and data processing aimed at tracing the artifact in the international antiquities market. The miniature, valued at about 250,000 euros, had been offered for sale in a London auction but physically stored in the Swiss auction house’s headquarters. The spontaneous cooperation of the Swiss facility enabled the repatriation of the work, which was facilitated by the International Cooperation Office of the TPC Command and the Italian Consulate in Zurich.
The return of the miniature to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli represents an important episode in the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property, reaffirming the importance of protecting the national artistic and religious heritage. The work, returned to its original context, will once again enrich Italy’s cultural heritage, ensuring the preservation of a fragment of the country’s artistic and spiritual history.
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| Stolen art recovered: 15th-century miniature returns to Rome's Aracoeli |
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