She’s the artful dodger.
The ex-wife of a late British baron refuses to hand over a 16th-century painting that was stolen from an Italian museum more than 50 years ago — even though she “never really liked it.”
“Madonna and Child” by Antonio Solario was swiped in 1973 from the town of Belluno’s Civic Museum, which acquired it in 1872, before it was later purchased in good faith by Baron de Dozsa.
The painting hung in his Norfolk Tudor-style home called East Barsham Manor, which Henry VIII referred to as his “small country palace,” according to the Guardian.
The painting belongs to Barbara de Dozsa, who was married to the baron and apparently wants to hold onto it — even though it remains on the database of stolen art by Interpol, the international police organization.
Lawyer Christopher Marinello, who deals with recovering stolen art, has worked to bring the painting back to Belluno, where he had family roots.
He approached de Dozsa, but she wouldn’t give up the historical painting — despite telling him “she never really liked it,” Marinello claimed.
“She doesn’t hang it — it reminds her of her ex-husband,” he said.
The painting was first unearthed when Barbara de Dozsa tried to sell it off at an English auction house in 2019.
It was quickly discovered to be stolen art, and local police even got involved before the painting was returned to de Dozsa in 2020, the Guardian reported.
The local police, Norfolk Constabulary, said judicial authorities told them to give the painting to de Dozsa because several years had passed and there was no response by Italian authorities.
Italian officials could not fork over the necessary documents in their quest to obtain the painting, the Guardian reported.
“It just shows the failure of law enforcement to help the Italians out,” Marinello told the outlet.
“The UK police said that this woman didn’t commit a crime, so we’re not going to treat it as a criminal matter. It’s a civil case.”
The painting is likely worth less than 100,000 pounds — or less than $128,000 — but Marinello insisted “it has a value beyond its monetary value.”
“Solario was from the area so it’s very important to the people of Belluno,” he said.
de Dozsa and declined comment to the Guardian.
With Post wires
