Of
Giulio De Santis
Breakthrough in the Rome prosecutor’s office’s investigation into priceless paintings stolen from Italian heritage
The investigation into the composition of the Agnelli family’s art collection is at a turning point. In fact, it has been ascertained that there are 35 paintings by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office that are looking for. The list is (partly) covered by investigative secrecy. It is known for certain that paintings by are part of this «secret collection». Monet, Picasso, De Chirico. The reason for the secrecy imposed by the magistrates is linked to the second turning point of the investigation: for some of these paintings the confiscation procedure will begin once the place where they are located has been identified.
Certainly, according to investigators, I’m no longer in Italy. After a passage through Italian territory, investigators believe that they were transported out of the country, perhaps to Switzerland, but without notifying the Ministry of Culture.
It should be remembered that the Agnellis, as owners, have the freedom to transfer a work of art, wherever they want and whenever they want. But every owner of assets of particular artistic and patrimonial value is obliged to report the transfer. In case of failure to communicate to the ministry, confiscation is inevitable.
Where the investigation is headed
Where does the novelty come from? It is a crucial question in the investigation conducted by the deputy prosecutor Giovanni Conzo and the prosecutor Stefano Opilio. The investigation, for now without suspects, hypothesizes the crimes of receiving stolen goods and illicit export of works of art. It was started as part of the dispute between Margherita Agnelli (69 years old) and her three children, John (49 years old), Lapo (47) and Ginevra (46) relating to the inheritance of the lawyer Gianni Agnelli, Margherita’s father, who passed away on 24 January 2003.
During the controversy, it emerged that traces of thirteen paintings, listed in the inventory attached to the will, had been lost. Copies of some have been found, such as, for example, «The staircase of goodbyes» by Giacomo Balla, the «Mystery and melancholy of a street» by Giorgio De Chirico, «Glaçons, effet blanc» by Monet.
Protection of paintings
The issue is not only relevant in the dispute between Margherita and her children. The paintings, having an immense artistic and patrimonial value, are also protected by the State. To search for the thirteen master paintings it was necessary to acquire the papers that make up the Agnelli family’s inventory of their private collection. An operation carried out, first of all, through collaboration with other prosecutors’ offices, such as those of Milan and Turin, where proceedings concerning the missing paintings have been underway for some time.
But then a new factor intervened: Margherita’s collaboration. The lawyer Dario Trevisan, Margherita’s legal historian, made certificates, private lists, delivery notes and insurance contracts for the paintings available to the investigators. A mass of fundamental material, because the paper examination revealed the existence of twenty-two paintings which the Agnellis were unaware of being in possession of. Some of these would have been purchased by the lawyer Agnelli in the eighties and nineties in the United States.
Then, through a series of steps, they would arrive in Italy to be exhibited in the family’s private residences. In this case, according to a first summary reconstruction, entry into our country would not have any criminal implications. The purchase should have been reported, but yet the time that has passed makes the issue irrelevant. These works are still found in Italy today. Therefore there is no interest on the part of the Prosecutor’s Office to delve deeper into the topic.
The confiscation procedure
However, the situation is different regarding the dispute between Margherita and her children. Matter which, as mentioned, falls outside the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office. The existence of part of the twenty-two paintings that the prosecutor’s office is looking for and which is no longer in Italy is documented by documents attached to the will case and by the transfer documents between the family’s Italian residences. However, at a certain point, traces of him are lost. As if they had disappeared into thin air. The suspicion that they were taken to Switzerland it is based on the fact that for a period they would have been stored in Swiss “free ports”, areas free from customs restrictions. Then they would be transferred to the Agnellis’ Swiss residences.
Now the Prosecutor’s Office has as its primary objective that of re-emerging works of value for the Italian heritage. Nobody knows why it was decided to move them abroad. And the hypotheses are different: remove them from the inheritance? Tax reasons? The investigators are not looking for answers to these questions. The important thing now is to track down the paintings. At a later time, the owners will be able to regularize the situation.
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December 30, 2025
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