Back at the Uffizi a 16th cent. Holy Family stolen in 1985

The Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) have returned to the Uffizi Galleries a painting by a painter from the Veneto-Romagna area of the 16th century depicting The Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria: the painting, owned by the Florentine museum, had been stolen in 1985 from the church of San Michele a Monteripaldi, near Florence, where it had been in storage since 1970. The official return, following confiscation, took place today: the work was entrusted to the director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, on behalf of the commander of the Carabinieri TPC, Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Marseglia. Attended the event the commander of the Nucleo TPC of Udine, Major Lorenzo Pella.

The painting had been put on sale also through online channels by an auction house with offices in Milan and Rome: the Carabinieri TPC of Udine discovered it during their daily monitoring of the web in search of stolen works, thank to the online database "Banca dati dei beni culturali illecitamente sottratti".