art trafficking

Culture news

How did the FBI find out where a 2,000 year old artwork was from?

The mosaic had been in storage in Los Angeles since the 1980s, but now it's back in the hands of the Italian government.

7 September 2022

Art

Italy thwarts illegal auction abroad of Baroque painting

Carabinieri police said that art merchants had allegedly described the work as being painted by a follower of Gentileschi, and not the artist herself, to fraudulently obtain export permission from Italian authorities.

21 July 2022

Art

Curse-fearing thief returns 2000-year-old sacred relic

A Dutch art sleuth has tracked down one of the most sacred artefacts of the Catholic Church.

12 July 2022

Art

These playing cards highlight WWII's 'Most Wanted' lost and stolen art

The 52 priceless artworks featured in the deck are among hundreds of thousands that were lost, sold under duress and looted by the Nazis over six years.

29 March 2022

Cyprus

Stolen church doors return to Cyprus Orthodox Church from Japan

The ornately-decorated wooden doors were stolen from a village church after the Turkish invasion in 1974, before resurfacing years later in an art college in Ishikawa.

16 September 2021