The carabinieri of the Nucleo for the protection of cultural heritage have seized the painting 'The risen Christ appears to the mother' by the Flemish painter Rubens exhibited in recent weeks at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa.
Four people are under investigation for the illegal export of works of art.
The painting, according to what was reconstructed by the prosecutor's office, would have been brought out of Italy as generically belonging to the Flemish school and then authenticated as Rubens in Prague.
The switch would have taken place when it was already known that it would have been authenticated.
From the investigations, coordinated by the prosecutor Eugenia Menichetti and by the deputy Paolo D'Ovidio, it emerged that the painting belonged to a Genoese family who allegedly sold it for 300,000 euros to a merchant.
The buyer would then have resold it to another private individual for over 3 million euros.
The work then returned to Italy and was exhibited for the first time at the Ducale.
The painting depicts the risen Christ standing in front of two kneeling women.
Both female figures represent the Mother of Jesus. A recent x-ray revealed the presence of a second female image under the pictorial surface, similar from a compositional point of view, but iconographically different.
The exhibition was recently extended until February 5th.
(HANDLE).