Stolen Painting Found, But Its Owner Won’t Return It

Police said they are not currently investigating the case.

That leaves the painting in an awkward position: recognised internationally as stolen, physically located in England and, for now, beyond the reach of the museum from which it disappeared.

Why its owner is resisting its return

Marinello said de Dozsa has refused to give up the artwork, despite telling him that “she never really liked it.”

“She doesn’t hang it – it reminds her of her ex-husband,” he said.

De Dozsa did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment, meaning her legal position and reasons for retaining the painting have not been publicly explained in her own words.

According to Marinello, Baron de Dozsa bought the work sometime after the 1973 theft and brought it to his Tudor manor house in eastern England. The supplied account does not establish when or where he purchased it, whether he knew of its history, or how the painting left Italy.

A personal campaign to bring the Solario home

Marinello has pledged to secure the painting’s return to Belluno, a town in the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy where his own family has roots.

“I have a family connection to this region, and I decided I was going to stick my 2 cents’ in and interfere,” he said.

His company, Art Recovery International, has previously helped trace works by artists including Henri Matisse and Henry Moore and restore them to their owners. In this case, however, identification has been the relatively easy part. Persuading the current holder to part with the object is another matter.

Marinello has not suggested that “Madonna and Child” belongs in the highest tier of the international art market. He estimated its value at less than £100,000, or about $128,000.

“It’s not a Rembrandt,” he said. “It has a value beyond its monetary value.”

Why the painting matters to Belluno

Solario worked across Italy during the early 16th century, and his paintings have fetched several hundred thousand dollars at auction. For Belluno, however, the importance of this work is local as much as financial.

“Solario was from the area so it’s very important to the people of Belluno,” Marinello said.

The dispute now turns on whether renewed pressure can succeed where the earlier police process did not. Norfolk Constabulary has closed its investigation, de Dozsa retains possession and the painting remains registered with Interpol.

More than half a century after it vanished, Belluno’s “Madonna and Child” is no longer missing. It is simply not home.