(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, JUN 29 - Greece on Tuesday said it had
recovered a Picasso painting personally donated by the Spanish
master to the Greek people, almost a decade after it was stolen
alongside two other artworks in an audacious heist at the
National Gallery. 'Head of a Woman', gifted by Pablo Picasso to
Greece in 1949, was recovered in Keratea, a rural area some 45
kilometres (28 miles) southeast of Athens, officials told a news
conference. "Today is a special day, (a day of) great joy and
emotion," Culture Minister Lina Mendoni told reporters. Mendoni
said the painting would have been "impossible" to sell as it had
a personal inscription by Picasso on the back -- "For the Greek
people, a tribute by Picasso." The artist had given the cubist
painting to the Greek state in recognition of the country's
resistance to Nazi Germany during a painful 1941-44 occupation.
"This painting is of particular importance and sentimental value
to the Greek people, as it was personally dedicated by the great
painter to the Greek people for their fight against fascist and
Nazi forces," she said. Another painting stolen in the same
heist in January 2012, 'Stammer Windmill' by Dutch painter Piet
Mondrian, was also found. (ANSA-AFP).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved