Forty years ago, in May 1969, the special squad of the Carabinieri assigned to the protection of the cultural heritage was set up, which then in 1975 became functionally answerable to the newly-established Ministry for the Cultural Heritage.
The exhibition, set up in the Sala Bianca of the Pitti Palace, is devoted in particular to sacred art, and hence to paintings and objects stolen from churches and convents, and sometimes museums, but in all cases works on sacred subjects or objects of liturgical use. Consequently this tends to bring to light how, for many different reasons, sites of worship tend to be exposed to the risk of theft and damage and how over time the squad of the Carabinieri specialised in this sector has set its resources and competence at the service of the Church and its enormous artistic heritage.
What the selected works have in common, first and foremost, is the very high “quality”, illustrating how even unrivalled masterpieces, which one would think are immune to all risk, have over time been involved in more or less sensational robberies.
As well as being arranged in chronological order, the works are also divided up into panels, canvases, sculptures and works of applied art, illustrating how the thefts have indiscriminately affected different genres. Another criterion of selection could be defined as “geographical”, since because the work of the special squad of the Carabinieri covers the entire country, the works on display too ought to represent all the different Regions of Italy.
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