On July 9, 2019, at 10:30 am, in Sant'Antimo, in the council chamber of the Municipality, in the presence of the Mayor Dr. Aurelio Russo, the Parish Priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit Don Pasquale Cammisa and the Commander of the Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) of Naples, Major Giampaolo Brasili, the ceremony for the return of an oil painting on wood depicting "Saint Francis of Paola", by the artist Aert Mytens (1541-1602), part of an altarpiece stolen in 1992 from the aforementioned church, will take place. The important painting, a fragment of the stolen work, depicting "The Immaculate Conception between Saints Francis of Paola and Agatha", catalogued by the Superintendence for Artistic and Historical Heritage of Naples, was in the possession of a private citizen who purchased it from a well-known auction house in 2010.
Of fundamental importance for the identification of the precious asset was the comparison of its image with that contained in the Database of illegally stolen cultural assets, managed by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which confirmed its illicit origin.
Today's restitution also confirms the importance of the awareness-raising work that the branches of this Command carry out daily with the heads of the Diocesan Offices, also through the dissemination, to the Parish Priests, of the publication "Guidelines for the Protection of Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage", produced by this Command in 2014 together with the Italian Episcopal Conference. The document, in addition to containing practical advice for the defense of church assets from predatory events, disseminates and enhances the initiatives of cataloging and census of the assets of the Dioceses that, with great commitment, are conducting in order to their cultural heritage.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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