A 17th century masterpiece, one of three paintings stolen from Oxford University, has been returned.
The baroque painting A Rocky Coast with Soldiers Studying a Plan by Salvator Rosa has been re-hung, but police continue to search for the other two works of art.
The artworks, worth £10 million, were stolen from the Christchurch Picture Gallery during lockdown in 2020.
Thieves broke down the skylight of the college’s art gallery and stole the oil paintings before fleeing in a boat.
After four years of searching, the baroque painting was found with an art dealer in Bucharest, Romania, who allegedly sold the other two paintings without realizing they had been stolen.
Ms Thalmann speaking to the press at the gallery after the painting’s discovery in Bucharest, Romania. A rocky coast, with soldiers studying a plan, by Salvator Rosa
Jaqueline Thalmann, curator of the Christ Church Gallery, displays the restored masterpiece in its gilded frame, which remained empty for four years.
Ms Thalmann speaking to the press at the gallery after the painting’s discovery in Bucharest, Romania. A Rocky Coast, with Soldiers Studying a Plan, by Salvator Rosa hanging on the wall
The painting has now been returned to its formerly empty frame in the gallery and is surrounded by other oil paintings in the purpose-built gallery at Oxford College.
Police are still searching for the two other missing paintings, A Drinking Boy by Antony Van Dyck and A Soldier on Horseback by Annibale Carracci.
Thames Valley Police and Romanian authorities hope fingerprints on the recovered canvas will help them find the two missing works which may have been looted by Romanian burglars.
Gallery curator Jaqueline Thalmann told the Telegraph: “It’s wonderful, it’s really wonderful. It gives you that spark of hope that others are there and will come back.
Detective Chief Inspector James Mather said: “I’m really pleased to have recovered the Salvator Rosa painting and I hope we have made some progress.
“We are optimistic that lines of inquiry will open up and lead us to the other two paintings.”
A gang allegedly used ladders stolen from Christ Church Meadows to climb onto the roof of the gallery at around 11pm on Saturday March 14, 2020.
The thieves broke a skylight before stealing the paintings from their frames.
The alarms immediately sounded, but the thieves were able to flee with their loot before Ms Thalmann arrived on the scene.
A Boy Drinking, by Annibale Carracci from 1580, could be worth up to £6 million and is still missing
A Soldier on Horseback, painted by Van Dyck in 1616, is worth more than £1 million and police are still trying to find the missing artwork.
Thieves stole the masterpieces, estimated to be worth a total of £10 million, four years ago from Christ Church College, Oxford University.
Police told The Times the gang fled by boat.
Mr Mather told the Telegraph the paintings could have been “stolen to order” at the behest of a major collector.
He also said it was possible the thieves had identified a set of valuable paintings they thought they could sell.
After the burglary, the paintings were found in the home of a man in the Romanian capital.
The art dealer now takes part in the investigation and is treated as a witness after admitting to selling the much more valuable Van Dyck and Carracci paintings before realizing they had been stolen.
Police hope the exceptional paintings are still in Europe and will be found intact.
The irreplaceable A Soldier on Horseback, painted by Van Dyck in 1616, is worth more than a million pounds sterling.
A Drinking Boy, by Annibale Carracci from 1580, was also stolen and, although its price is not estimated, other works by the artist have sold at auction for between £100,000 and £6 million .
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