There are two suspects for receiving stolen goods by the Aosta prosecutor after the seizure of a painting by Antonio Ligabue which was stolen in 1991 from a villa in Boretto (Reggio Emilia) and with an estimated value of 250-300 thousand euros.
'Self-portrait with scarecrow' was noted in an exhibition at the Forte di Bard - a museum that the Aosta prosecutor considers an injured party - last January by the 80-year-old Emilian, now living in Milan, who was stolen 31 years ago together with the his family and who has never stopped looking for the work ever since.
The suspects are the curator of the exhibition, Alessandro (known as Sandro) Parmiggiani, aged 75, from Reggio Emilia, and the gallery owner Patrizia Lodi (67) from Sala Baganza (Parma).
According to the prosecutor, Parmiggiani, one of the leading experts of the artist who died 57 years ago in Gualtieri, had the work from the gallery owner, organizing the exhibition 'Antonio Ligabue and his world' and selling it at the Forte di Bard;
Lodi, on the other hand, would not have ascertained the provenance of the painting.
After the notification to the Carabinieri of the Nucleo for the protection of the cultural heritage of Monza, the seizure was triggered with the opening of the file in Aosta by the prosecutor Giovanni Roteglia.
The Pinacoteca di Brera has ascertained that the painting on display is actually the one stolen in '91.
Painting of 1957-1958 paid 4,000 lire at the time, after the theft of 1991 it underwent a modification: the removal of a dragonfly painted at the top right, then covered with the colors of the sky.
A useful operation according to investigators to disguise the work.
The two suspects, summoned to the prosecutor for questioning, made use of the right not to appear.
The last transfer of ownership of the painting dates back to 2015 and since then, according to the Aosta prosecutor's office, it has been exhibited in at least three other exhibitions.