A priceless set of medieval
relics stolen from a seminary on the outskirts of Siena in 1989
has been recovered, Italian art cops said Monday in presenting
the results of last week's operation.
The San Galgano Reliquary was made in 1200 out of gold, silver
and enamel.
It was stolen along with another 10 works of sacred art of an
inestimable value.
Four people, a Tuscan 'inside man' and three Sicilians, were
arrested after it went missing but it was not rediscovered until
now, in the home of a collector at Giarre near Catania who was
unable to explain its provenance and has been cited.
All the works, property of the dioceses of Siena, Colle di Val
d'Elsa, and Montalcino, have now been recovered by Italy's crack
Carabinieri cultural heritage protection unit, the NTPC.
The recovery was presented at a press conference Monday with the
archbishop of Siena, Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Culture
Minister Dario Franceschini, NTPC Commander, General Roberto
Ricciardi, Vatican Museums Director Barbara Jatta, and Gianluigi
Marmora, head of the NTPC's Palermo division.
The theft of the relics and other items, in July 1989, was
carried out on commission, sources said at the time.
Saint Galgano (1148 - 3 December 1181) was a Catholic saint from
Tuscany born in Chiusdino, in the modern province of Siena.
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