25/01/2002

In a raid in the suburbs of Rome at the end of December last year, the Roman squad of the Command of the Carabinieri for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage recovered 268 paintings, 1559 drawings and watercolours and 126 monographs by the painters Amedeo and Virgilio Simonetti. The two artists, father and son, who worked between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, were important exponents of the “XXV della campagna romana” group. The overall value of the works recovered amounts to € 387,340 ($ 342,410), while the most well-known painting by Amedeo, Tevere a Castel Giubileo, is estimated at € 20,660 ($ 18,260). The entire Simonetti collection, property of the heirs and looked after by a “trustworthy” acquaintance, had disappeared in September together with the trustee. Suspicions that the works would soon reappear on the market (particularly the drawings, easier to place with market prices of around € 260, $ 230), prompted inquiries and the police were able to recover the whole loot as soon as some of the works turned up in a few galleries in Rome, offered as sophisticated Christmas gifts. The “trusted trustee” has been arrested, but twenty paintings still remain to be found. (Dorian Cara)