The heist the police had already rewritten
The glass broke. The thieves took their Brueghel. Only later did the public learn that the original had left the church before they arrived.
A convincing scene
On the morning of 13 March 2019, thieves entered Santa Maria Maddalena in Castelnuovo Magra and broke the protective glass in front of a Crucifixion by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. They removed the picture. From outside the operation, the event looked like the loss of a major Flemish work. CODART’s account supplied the detail the intruders did not know: they had taken a copy. [1]
The secret came first
Police had received advance information and moved the original to safety weeks earlier. A reproduction occupied its place, watched by cameras. Artnet reported that the mayor knew of the substitution and that observant churchgoers had kept the secret. The deception depended on allowing the display to look ordinary. Even the first public reaction maintained the appearance of a genuine loss. [2]
The original’s next chapter
The protected work did not need to be recovered from the thieves. Its documented later history led instead to conservation: in 2023, ANSA reported its restoration and display at the Museo Civico Amedeo Lia in La Spezia. That ordinary museum ending is the operation’s striking result. The break-in was real, but the object the criminals expected to possess had already been taken out of their story. [3][4]
Original protected; copy stolen
A copy was stolen on 13 March 2019; the original had been moved to safety beforehand. ANSA documented the original’s restoration and exhibition in 2023. This is a thwarted theft of the masterpiece, not a stolen original subsequently recovered.
Sources checked 9 November 2026.Artwork Details & DocumentationIdentification, ownership history and supporting records
Individual artwork identification details have not yet been documented in this record. Missing specifications are not inferred from the photograph or report headline.
Not documented in this record: object type · materials & technique · measurements · inscriptions & markings · distinguishing features · artwork title · maker / attribution · creation date / period · subject.
Record sources
Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.
Sources & further reading
- CODART · Police reveal the stolen work was a copy, 25 March 2019 ↗
- Artnet · The substitution and the village’s secret, updated 14 March 2019 ↗
- ANSA · The original restored and exhibited, June 2023 ↗
- Italian Ministry of Culture · Investigations and restoration, March 2023 ↗
An original narrative synthesis of the sources above. Images depict the artworks; they are not reconstructions of the thefts.
