This is an oops and huh? story, which I read with greed borne of zillions of years of consuming mystery novels.
What I can’t figure out is: if one of the partners stole the painting from a vault, why did both partners settle this case and sell the painting? That is, why didn’t thieving partner face criminal consequences for this?
AND why is the valuation of this painting so much lower than the valuation of paintings by related artists?
Boy, it’s the wild west out there in the Renaissance painting world.
Anyway, there’s a pretty nice full color pic of the painting which is, of course, religious. I mean, that’s all the Italians painted in the 13th century. I got very tired of viewing saints and Madonnas and Baby Jesuses when I was in Italy. So weary that when I encountered a Lowlands painter’s small portrait of a real human being, I nearly burst into tears of relief.
After accusations of theft, and a court settlement, an Italian painting that went missing in 1986 will be returned to its owners.
Source: Missing 13th-Century Painting to be Returned to Owners in Court Settlement
P.S. Once again, I’m perplexed about what to tag this story, so I’m falling back on that ole breach of contract tag.