Bologna, 3 June 2024 – It had been stolen from the Baraccano church in the far 1975now, thanks to a joint intervention between the Milan prosecutor’s office and the Carabinieri command for the protection of the cultural heritage of Bologna the work ‘St. John the Evangelist’a oval oil on a canvas representing the evangelist John, is safe in the Asp Gallery – Public companies providing personal services – of Bologna.
“A important recovery, which occurred thanks to a series of checks by the cultural heritage protection unit which aims to control sales that take place in the art world via online sites and auction houses. And here it is a sale in the Milan area led us to the recovery of this historic painting. Recovery which proved to be more complicated than expected as the work had already been sold to an unaware buyer who in turn was having it restored. For recovery it has proven itself comparison with a photograph is essential, taken at the timepresent in the database of illicitly stolen goods which allowed a team of art historians to correctly identify it” he explains Giuseppe De Gori, commander of the cultural heritage protection unit of the municipality of Bologna. And also thanks to the team of scholars and art historians put in place by Asp Bologna, the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan city and the cultural heritage administration of the diocese of Bologna which it was possible to trace the true author of the painting. It’s about Girolamo Negri known as ‘il Boccia’painter of Bolognese school lived on horseback between 1600 and 1700 (Bologna, 1648-1718) whose specialty was ‘character heads’, i.e. representations of typical faces.
As he says Elena Di GioiaDelegate of the Mayor for Culture of Bologna: “This discovery enriches the story of our city’s history, when a work returns it is always a cause for celebration. And if it is possible to celebrate, it is thanks, first and foremost to the Carabinieri command for the protection of cultural heritage, but also to all those people who have worked continuously, joining forces and knowledge, to ensure that this work comes home”. And finally Stefano Brugnarasole administrator of the ASP city of Bologna: “Thanks to the great work of the Carabinieri unit and others great work they have done to ensure that this work becomes part of Bologna’s cultural heritage again. For the Asp it represents a further gift that we will display here in the Picture Gallery to make it admirable by all, it cannot be ruled out that the painting could return to the place of its original location, the Baraccano church, which however is not suitable at the moment due to the conditions of the church itself. For the moment we are more than honored to be able to keep him here.”
