Leonardo da Vinci Painting Stolen from Scottish Castle

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 28, 2003

Leonardo da Vinci Painting Stolen from Scottish Castle

Two thieves posing as visitors overpowered a guide at a Scottish castle Wednesday and stole a painting believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci, police said.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Two thieves posing as visitors overpowered a guide at a Scottish castle Wednesday and stole a painting believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci, police said.

The "Madonna with the Yarnwinder" was taken from the private collection at Drumlanrig Castle in southern Scotland, which is home to one of Scotland's richest landowners, the Duke of Buccleuch.

Police said the thieves stole the work after overpowering the female guide at about 11 a.m. Investigators were looking for four men seen driving near the castle in a white car and have released descriptions of two men.

The work, which shows the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus on her lap holding a cross-shaped spindle for yarn, was hanging in a staircase hall open to the public. Its value is estimated to be about $47 million.

"It has been here for more than 250 years," said the duke's son, the Earl of Dalkeith. "It's a remarkable work, a piece of great serenity and beauty upon which a great deal of scholarship has been carried out in recent years."

According to the Drumlanrig Castle Web site, da Vinci completed the painting between 1500 and 1510. It said testing at the National Gallery of Scotland in 1986 showed it was authentic.

Experts at the gallery were not immediately available for comment.

Drumlanrig Castle, which houses one of the finest private art collections in Britain, also contains masterpieces by Rembrandt and Holbein. The castle, completed in 1691, is one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Scotland and sits in the 120,000-acre Queensberry estate.

Source: Agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

Van Gogh, Picasso, Gaugin Paintings Stolen from UK Gallery

Martin Luther King's Dream Hard to Be Fulfilled ( 23 Messages)

China's Economy Faces Stiff Challenges: Minister ( 3 Messages)

China's 150 million mu Forests Plagued by Exotic Pests ( 3 Messages)

Is a Good Husband Worth More Than a Good Job? ( 2 Messages)

Poll Shows More Americans Wouldn't Vote for Bush ( 15 Messages)