The woman inside the wall
A Klimt vanished from an Italian gallery. Almost twenty-three years later, gardening work uncovered a bag beside the very building that had lost it.
A portrait with an earlier life
Before the theft, the painting already held a secret. In 1996, school student Claudia Maga noticed that its face resembled a supposedly lost Klimt portrait. Investigation showed that the artist had painted over the earlier woman, changing her dress and appearance. One canvas carried two identities. In February 1997, while the gallery prepared an exhibition, the visible portrait disappeared too. [1]
The bag behind the hatch
On 10 December 2019, workers tending the outside of the gallery found a plastic bag in a small cavity behind a hatch. Inside was a canvas resembling the missing portrait. The discovery created a new question: had the work been nearby all along, or had someone brought it back? Finding the hiding place could not, by itself, answer either possibility. [1][2]
An answer, and the unanswered part
On 17 January 2020, specialists’ findings confirmed the painting was genuine. Authentication settled the identity of the object; it did not reconstruct its missing years. Its later museum life is documented: after a loan to Seoul, ANSA announced its return to Piacenza in April 2026. The woman had come back. The route she had taken remained a different mystery. [2][3][4]
Recovered; theft unresolved
Authenticated in January 2020. ANSA documented its return to Ricci Oddi after a Seoul exhibition in April 2026. The recovery does not establish who stole it, when it entered the cavity or where it spent the intervening years.
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
- Ricci Oddi · The portrait, its earlier image and disappearance ↗
- Rai News · Authentication announced, 17 January 2020 ↗
- ANSA · Return to the gallery after a loan, 3 April 2026 ↗
- ANSA · Authentication of the recovered Klimt, 17 January 2020 ↗
An original narrative synthesis of the sources above. Images depict the artworks; they are not reconstructions of the thefts.
