Stolen Sacred Art Painting The Assumption Of The Virgin Mary By Giuseppe Pappini Returns To Italy From USA
The “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by a 19th century Italian artist Giuseppe Pappini returned to Italy from the USA together with other 600 ancient artifacts that have been stolen and illegally trafficked for many decades.
In 2002 the painting “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by Giuseppe Pappini was stolen from the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria in Sylvis in Sesto al Reghena (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Italy.
Until 2019 the painting was in a private gallery in Dallas, USA. According to Homeland Security Investigations in Dallas, the collector had purchased the painting in 2015 from a dealer who did not know that it was stolen. The private collector voluntarily agreed to hand the artwork over to HSI after learning of the painting’s origins so that it could be returned to the monastery in Italy.
Now the “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by Giuseppe Pappini is among other 600 artifacts received by Italian government from the USA.
According to the Italian Ministry of Culture, the artifacts were taken from Italy due to illegal excavations and theft of artworks from churches, museums and private owners. Some of the artifacts ended up in the possession of famous museums and galleries in the United States, as well as in the hands of international dealers.
