Stolen 2 years ago and found in Morocco Madonna Gverchino was in terrible condition

CASABLANCA. “Madonna with the Saints John the Evangelist and Gregory the Wonderworker” by Guercino was stolen in 2014 and was only recently discovered in Casablanca. However, the joy of this find was soon overshadowed by the first photographs of the masterpiece: they clearly show how badly damaged the canvas of the XVII century. According to reports in the Italian and Moroccan press, the painting lost about one third of its surface. Major damage is located at the bottom of the canvas. To get more selected information, you have to wait until the authorities of Italy and Morocco agree on all the details of the transfer of the picture.

Two years after the theft, the thieves tried to sell a huge canvas (2.9 by 1.88 meters) to a Moroccan collector for ten million dirhams (about 800,000 pounds), but he immediately reported the painting to the police. According to the Italian newspaper Modena Today, one of the three alleged robbers detained in Casablanca, admitted to the police that the picture was transported by wrapping a roll in a carpet, which is probably due to its large-scale damage.

The canvas was stolen from the church of San Vincenzo in Modena in 2014. At the time of the theft, art critic Vittorio Sgarbi described the painting as a monumental work, which costs about 5-6 million euros.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru