Bellingcat Open Source Challenge - Edward Acizzorhands Art Thief
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Edward Scizzorhands Art Thief
This OSINT challenge is from the section Cultural Confusion. This puzzle was created by Stefano Alessandrini, ARCA.
Edward Acizzorhands: Art Thief
How do art thieves sell famous paintings?
Sometimes, a large or famous painting stolen from a church might draw a lot of attention if sold via the regular art market. But how do art thieves avoid the heat?
In 1982, thieves broke into a cathedral and cut away a small portion of this large-scale painting. After the theft, the cut-out canvas changed hands several times over 35 years before eventually ending up at an auction where careful eyes spotted it.
What is the name of the auction house where this canvas extract was put up for auction?
Walkthrough
Searched online on Google with the search query 1982 stolen painting piece cathedral. I found the following information:
A remarkable story surrounds a fragment of Federico Barocci’s altarpiece, stolen in 1982 and rediscovered in 2017 by Marche art dealer Giancarlo Ciaroni. The fragment, depicting a child’s head, was cut out from Barocci’s large 1558 painting Martyrdom of St. Sebastian in Urbino Cathedral. The child is believed to be Antonio Bonaventura, son of the original commissioner, Benedetto Bonaventura.
For decades, the fragment’s whereabouts were unknown until Ciaroni spotted it among auction lots scheduled for May 31 in Genoa at the Wannenes House. It had been misattributed to an unknown 17th-century artist and estimated at only 500 to 800 euros. After Ciaroni’s identification, its value was reassessed at around 300,000 euros. Authorities were alerted, and the fragment was seized before the auction.
Experts had not recognized the painting’s true origin, partly because Barocci’s style in this work is close to Venetian painters like Tintoretto. The fragment came from a bankruptcy sale of a Brescian company and likely passed through several owners, with the last unaware of its significance.
Art historian Massimo Pulini confirmed the fragment’s authenticity as part of Barocci’s altarpiece. The piece is expected to be returned to Urbino and reunited with the original work. This story highlights the power of knowledge, intuition, civic responsibility, and swift action in recovering lost cultural heritage.
The answer: Wannenes