Three Sacred Artworks Stolen From Valladolid Churches

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Three religious artworks were stolen from two churches in the Spanish city of Valladolid, marking the latest in a series of thefts from cultural institutions across Spain and Europe. The Church of San Pablo lost two pieces: a small Station of the Cross depicting Jesus's second fall, adorned with a silver relief, and a 17th-century copy of an Ecce Homo by Renaissance painter Luis de Morales. According to El País, a nearby church, Vera Cruz, simultaneously lost a polychrome wooden carving of an angel carrying a torch, measuring approximately two feet tall.

Authorities are investigating whether the same perpetrator is responsible for the thefts, which occurred only days apart. The prior of San Pablo suspects the two works were taken during an evening Mass on September 10, while parishioners faced the altar. A sacristan informed the local newspaper, El Diario de Valladolid, that several individuals observed a man exiting the church with a large plastic bag. Church officials initially reported the disappearance of the Ecce Homo, only to later discover the Station of the Cross was also missing.

In response, the Archbishopric of Valladolid has instructed churches throughout its archdiocese to implement“extreme precautions and surveillance.” It has also urged them to maintain updated inventories, ideally with photographs, of their collections and to report any suspected thefts promptly. These incidents in Valladolid follow a notable increase in art and antiquity robberies. This summer, 220 19th-century gold coins were stolen from the Provincial Museum of Albacete, and 149 coins from the Villanueva Treasure were taken from the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Badajoz in April. More recently, artifacts from the Bronze Age Treasure of Villena were stolen from a museum in Alicante.

The trend extends beyond Spain, including the theft of ancient Celtic gold coins from a museum in Germany, a $4.5 million jewelry heist from a French museum dedicated to the Decorative Arts, and the notorious Louvre“smash and grab” valued at over $100 million in royal jewels. Europol has observed this pattern, with Jean-Yves Goriou, head of the European Union's organized crime unit, telling El País that the agency noted“a clear and pronounced increase in the number of museum robberies” reported by national authorities. Goriou added that gold objects are particularly appealing to thieves due to their high market price. Churches are often seen as easy targets, as they can be empty for extended periods, and during services, congregants typically face the altar rather than monitoring artworks. This vulnerability may have provided the necessary opportunity for the thief in Valladolid.

We previously reported:

Four paintings by Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir were stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday morning.

Two paintings were stolen from the Renoir Museum in southern France this week, part of a series of European museum thefts, Europol warned.

A 19th-century bronze sculpture, stolen from a French zoo in 1993, has been recovered in the U.S. and returned to the Musée de Picardie in Amiens.

Source: ARTnews

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