Madonna & Child by Antonio Solario
A Renaissance-era Madonna & Child painting stolen from an Italian museum fifty years ago has recently been rediscovered in Britain. But the owner will not let it go.
Antonio Solario was a sixteenth-century northern Italian painter. While moderately successful in his lifetime, he is not often the first name to come to mind when thinking of the great Italian Renaissance painters. many may become more familiar with his work when learning about his Madonna & Child. It was kept at the Belluno Civic Museum in the Veneto region until its theft in 1973. Several other works of art were stolen from the museum in the robbery, nearly all of which were recovered in Austria shortly after the incident. However, the Solario painting remained missing. Investigators tracked the painting to East Barsham Manor, a house in the English countryside previously owned by Baron de Dozsa. De Dozsa purchased the painting shortly after its theft, apparently not knowing that the work had been stolen. Authorities pinpointed the painting’s location because after De Dozsa died in 2017, his widow Barbara attempted to consign it to a local auction house. Police in Norfolk were alerted, and they confiscated the painting. But the Norfolk Constabulary returned the painting to De Dozsa due to Covid-related delays and poor communication. But now the relevant authorities are asking for the painting back, and there seems to be a small problem. She will not turn over the painting.
Barbara de Dozsa refuses to surrender the painting, even though there is no benefit in keeping it. It is listed on Interpol’s stolen art database and is, therefore, known to most law-enforcement entities. Also, confusingly, she has previously confessed that she does not even like the painting. According to art law specialist Christopher Marinello, De Dozsa admits that she does not display the painting on the walls of the old Tudor-era mansion as it reminds her too much of her late ex-husband. According to British law, if you buy a piece of stolen property but in good faith, you become the legal owner after six years. When the police gave the painting back to her, she was under the impression that this meant the legal title of ownership was officially transferred to her. However, the Norfolk constabulary contests this. So now there seems to be a bit of a standoff. De Dozsa will not turn over the painting, but since she was not part of the initial theft, the police can only treat this as a civil matter and not a criminal one. And so now we have a situation somewhat similar to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum’s Pissarro cityscape I recently wrote about. De Dozsa may not be obligated to turn the painting over to the police, but many are now putting pressure on her to do so as a moral choice.