Theives Are Preying on Churches in Italy

ARTNEWS
By Judith Harris

A sculpture of the Holy Child in the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome is a copy of a 15th-century original stolen in 1994.MATTHIAS KABEL/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ITALY---Italy's embrassment of riches---with 50 officially recognized sites, it tops UNESCO World Heritage List---has long made the country particularly vunveralbe to looting. Neverleless, heritage heists have declined in recent years. In 2013, they dropped by one-quarter, to 676 from the previous year's 891. The drop can be attributed to that fact that museums are more closely guarded than in the past, and stolen objects, offeredn for sale at auction, art fairs, galleries, or online can be identified more easily thanks to the massive data bank maintained by the art squad of the Carbiniera paramilitary police. [link]