Klimt robbed in Italy: the wife of the director of the gallery heard by the investigators

Mystery still hangs over the Portrait of the Lady by Gustav Klimt stolen in Italy. Although the piece was found in a trash can in Piacenza last December, investigators are still trying to understand how and who stole the work from the Ricci-Oddi gallery of modern art located in this same city, in 1997.

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The Art Newspaper reports that Rosella Tiadina, wife of Stefano Fugazza, the former gallery director who is now deceased, is at the center of questions and is the subject of an investigation. "Madame Fugazza has nothing to do with this story and I am sorry she is involved in it," said Valeriano Beltrame a little over a month ago. In a letter, the man claimed the theft of the painting and explained that he was handing it over to the authorities as a gift for the city. His case is also being studied.

Madame Fugazza has nothing to do with this story and I am sorry she is involved

However, suspicions weigh on Rosella Tiadina because Stefano, her husband, had written in his notebooks having thought of making the painting disappear. A staging planned to boost the visits to an exhibition entitled From Hayez to Klimt and of which the Portrait of the Lady was to be the flagship piece. A project he had finally given up, before the real robbery took place a few weeks later.