A few weeks ago, news surfaced of the discovery of two stolen Vincent van Gogh paintings found in Italy in a property linked to members of Neapolitan organized crime. Details of the story would seem plucked out of a suspenseful film noir: detectives investigating through the dark alleys of Europe, from Amsterdam to Italy, for over 14 years.
The FBI has the theft of these pieces from the Van Gogh museum in their Top Ten list of notorious art robberies. According to reports, on December 2002 the thieves broke into the building in Amsterdam through the roof and took View of the Sea at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen. A year later, two men were convicted, but the paintings were nowhere to be found.
Then on September 30, 2016 they were found in a place not far from Pompeii, in a house owned by a member of the Camorra. This group is considered to be one of the most violent crime syndicates linked to the traffic of cocaine. Among the seized assets of Castellammare di Stabia, law enforcement found the works of art, currently valued at approximately US$100 million. But as the detectives dug deeper into the gang’s dark deeds, they uncovered a surprising aspect about their business and lifestyle: the Italian mob, in their own way, respects art.
We know of the Camorra thanks to Robert Saviano’s investigative reporting. Organized crime in Naples is brutal and violent, as it is part of both drug and human trafficking. Forget the mafia from Mario Puzo’s books, the Camorra is a dangerous group that will sacrifice some of its own in order to achieve more power and money. Human lives have been turned into collateral damage and cocaine is their coin. And yet, these gangsters seem to have a soft spot for artistic pieces.
On October 17, 1969, Caravaggio’s The Nativity was taken from San Lorenzo’s oratory. During the indictment against the Cosa Nostra, amidst the 470 accused, someone mentioned the missing painting. Some bragged they had been part of the heist, like Luciano Leggio, who claimed the pigs had eaten the canvas. There was also talk about Totó Riina, one of the heads of the group, showing off the piece at meetings. It seemed everyone involved wanted people to know they’d been behind it.
Italy seems like the perfect spot to talk about art. Walking down small streets one might find the work of some of the great Renaissance or Barroque masters in a little old chapel or even outside for everyone to see. It’s not hard to see the link between that and the mob bosses being interested in the value of these paintings, especially in the black market.
Art being trafficked alongside weapons and drugs is not unheard of. But the idea that a Vincent van Gogh can reach its worth in millions of euros of cocaine says something about the collective understanding of both the painter and the significant value of his body of work.
For a more detailed report on the found paintings, you can check out the entire story on The Guardian.
Translated by María Suárez
