(Image Source: Los Angeles Times)
BY MADISON MACK
ANCHOR BLAKE HANSON
You're watching multisource U.S. news analysis from Newsy.
Just days after Rembrandt’s ‘The Judgement’ was stolen from a Marina del Rey hotel – the piece has been recovered. But its’ location of discovery is only adding to the mystery.
Los Angeles’ KABC explains.
“There are many unanswered questions about the suspects who took that drawing and now – what if any connection they have to this Encino church where it was found.”
“Here inside an office in St. Nicholas’s church in Encino”
“The person who found the drawing did not want to appear on camera but he did tell eyewitness news that at about 7 PM last night he left his office for about ten minutes and when he came back, the painting was sitting in his office.”
But why go through all that trouble just to ditch the piece a few days later?
The author of “Stealing Rembrandts” tells the LA Times -- it’s actually pretty common.
“Thieves find famous artworks extremely difficult to sell because of the high profile of the pieces and the publicity generated by such thefts … I'd be shocked if the person who stole this piece had any idea how to fence it..."
So how did the thieves get their hands on the etching in the first place? A reporter for KTTV explains – hotel security didn’t exactly make it difficult.
“Apparently it wasn’t attached to anything. There was apparently no security there keeping an eye on it. When the curator turned his back to talk with someone about another work, they just walked with it.”
Rembrandt works are some of the most popular targets for art thieves – over 80 have been stolen in the last century.
A writer for The Guardian says that’s a testament to the artist’s genius.
“If a mere sketch by Rembrandt with an almost sane-sounding price tag on it creates such a stir, it can only mean one thing. His charisma is truly universal. No wonder, for Rembrandt is one of the world's supreme artists. Thieves know this. Tragically, the theft this week conforms to a pattern: Rembrandt is a name that sounds glamorous to the criminal fraternity.”
The artwork was part of a private exhibit. Officials are still reviewing hotel security video.
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