A 17th century Salvator Rosa painting was returned to University of Oxford, 4 years after it was stolen.
The work in question is A Rocky Coast, with Soldiers Studying a Plan by Italian painter Salvator Rosa. On March 14, 2020, the painting was stolen from the Christ Church Picture Gallery located within the University of Oxford. Two other works – A Soldier on Horseback (1617) by Anthony van Dyck, and A Boy Drinking (1580) by Annibale Carracci – were also stolen. Combined, these works had a net worth of $12.4 million.
The Salvator Rosa painting was recovered in Romania, when a man in possession of the painting chose to contact the local authorities and return it. As per the Romanian police, the man had already sold the other two paintings. Currently, the man has not been charged and instead considered a witness to help recover the other two works. Authorities currently believe that while those works were sold in Romania, they could be anywhere in Europe. The Romanian legal authorities are working together with Eurojust and Europol, the top law enforcement agencies in European Union, to recover the works.
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Speaking on the return of the Salvator Rosa work, Jacqueline Thalmann, curator at the Christ Church Picture Gallery, said: “We’re grateful to the Romanian authorities and Thames Valley Police for their help in retrieving this priceless work and returning it to our gallery,”
