Leonardo stolen in Scottish raid

What a year for brazen thefts of major masterpieces! Quite aside from archeological artifacts, there's been Cellini's saltcellar, and now Leonardo's Madonna of the Yarnwinder. Here are some links: Telegraph, BBC, Independent, along with further Google News listings.

And in case you've forgotten, it's Leonardo, not "Da Vinci".

UPDATE: Looks like the thieves were caught on video. Here are some pictures.

THE Sunday Times offers a progress report:

Martin Kemp, professor of art history at Oxford University, yesterday confirmed that following recent x-ray research, he believed [the] Madonna with the Yarnwinder was a “prime original” .

His authentication of the work elevates its status and consequently its price [read: "value" -- D.]. Many had believed the painting was started by da Vinci [sic] but completed by one of his students.

Insurers believe the painting, which could now sell on the open market for between £80m and £150m, was stolen from the Duke’s Dumfriesshire home, Drumlanrig Castle, by an Irish gang who had no idea of its true value. They say the gang may have planned the theft to upstage rivals responsible for the theft of art worth £50m from Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, in June.

The “Johnson Gang”, who are originally from Co Longford, are also thought to have stolen Titian’s Rest on the Flight to Egypt from the Marquess of Bath’s Longleat home in 1995. The £5m painting was recovered after a £100,000 reward was paid last year.

“We believe it is a gang of Irish gypsies who are known to us,” said a source close to the insurance company. Charles Hill, a fine art detective and the former head of Scotland Yard’s fine art unit, said the Madonna theft had the characteristics of a gang of travellers that have been known to police and investigators for some time. “Their style is quite unmistakeable,” said Hill. “They have adopted the style of the Johnson Gang and are quite daring. They have progressed from DSS fraud to car crime and now to this. They do it because it is so easy. It earns them notoriety and is a trophy crime.”

FURTHER UPDATE: Looks like the pictures weren't from the castle's CCTV system, but from a NZ couple on holiday who used their digital camera to take pictures of the escaping thieves.

Posted by David on August 28, 2003 5:44 PM