Three Works of Sacred Art Stolen From Spanish Churches as Authorities Warn of Rise in Art Theft
Three works of sacred art were stolen from two churches in Valladolid, Spain, prompting renewed warnings about rising art thefts. From the Church of San Pablo, thieves took a small Station of the Cross depicting Jesus falling for the second time (with a silver relief) and a 17th-century copy of an Ecce Homo by Spanish Renaissance painter Luis de Morales; from the nearby Vera Cruz church, a roughly two-foot-tall polychrome wooden angel carrying a torch was stolen. San Pablo’s prior believes the two items there were taken during an evening Mass on September 10, and witnesses reported seeing a man leave with a large plastic bag. The Archbishopric of Valladolid urged “extreme precautions and surveillance” and better photographic inventories, while Europol official Jean-Yves Goriou told El País there has been a “clear and pronounced increase” in museum robberies, with gold objects especially targeted due to high market prices.
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This story was covered in Museum Power Plays, Union Strikes, and Sacred Heists