This painting that is a work by Gustav Klimt had disappeared in February 1997, during a renovation work that took place in the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art, in Picacenza. Experts say that the painting that was found between the walls of the gallery would indeed be the genuine work of the Austrian painter.
The prosecutor of the city of northern Italy, Ornella Chicca, concluded last Friday that if they were in front of a work by the distinguished author. «Finally there are no longer doubts about the authenticity of Portrait of a lady,» the prosecutor told reporters. The canvas was found last December, after 22 years of being lost, in the same gallery where it disappeared under doubtful circumstances. Both the director and the councilor of the city council could not leave the astonishment at the discovery.
The police do not rule out that the painting has remained these 22 years in the same gallery where it allegedly disappeared. At the time, the frame was completely empty in the skylights of the gallery. But nothing was known about the whereabouts of the painting. It would not be until the local gardener who would put an end to the enigma. The man who was removing grass came across a cavity covered with a plated door that hid a black bag and inside it was found painting very similar to the work lost in the 90s, ending the mystery of his disappearance.
We need to clarify with the help of the police the facts, to know what happened to the painter’s work. The Italian police suspect that the thieves would have hidden the piece there but that because of the great stir that this caused they gave up going to recover the piece valued at more than 60 million euros.
