"One Hundred Missing Objects. Looting in Europe" STOLEN PAINTING RECOVERED A 16th century Italian painting published on page 80 of the ICOM publication One Hundred Missing Objects. Looting in Europe was recovered on 25 September 2002. This polyptych representing a Madonna and Child with saints had been listed by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Property as one of the 800 most important works of art to retrieve. Stolen on 9 May 1997 from the Church of St Benedict, Angri (Italy), it was found by the Carabinieri of the Salerno province in an abandoned house on the Amalfi coast. This is the third restitution since the publication of Looting in Europe in January 2001. ICOM considers this to be a great success. Two other objects stolen from the Czech Republic have already been recovered and restituted. Looting in Europe is the fourth volume in the ICOM series "One hundred Missing objects". European countries are not spared the theft and looting of cultural heritage. Religious objects in particular are the main targets of traffickers. Looting in Europe is devoted to the looting that affects religious heritage. Crucifixes, church furniture, gold and silver plate, paintings and other items full of historical and spiritual significance are torn from their original contexts to feed the illicit traffic in cultural property and end up adorning the interiors of private houses. The book describes the situation in four countries: France, Hungary, Italy and the Czech Republic. Unfortunately these countries are not the only victims of the illegal traffic in religious objects, but they are representative of a situation that is widespread in Europe. These restitutions are very encouraging. However they must serve as a reminder to potential buyers that they should exercise the greatest vigilance with regard to other similar objects that are offered on the market. By buying such items, people contribute to the destruction of a country's heritage, and they run the risk of becoming partners in illicit trade. More information at : http://icom.museum/list_thanks_europe.html http://icom.museum/100objects.html http://icom.museum/release.europe.html http://icom.museum/illicit.traffic.html http:///icom.museum Contact : Valérie Jullien : ICOM [log in to unmask] Tel (33) 1 47.34.05.00 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Change ICOM-L subscription options, unsubscribe, and search the archives at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/icom-l.html