Is there any hope to see again the "Christmas" Karaj?

[LCR]

Jonathan Jones «The Guardian»

The testimony given by the Mafia in 1996, Marino manna, had the effect of exploding a bomb: he tried to explain one of the most famous crimes in the history of art (after the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, of which we have already mentioned) - theft of "Christmas with the saints Francis and Lawrence, "written in 1609 by the artist Michelangelo Meris, nicknamed" il Caravaggio ". No one saw this picture since she disappeared from the oratorio St. Lorenzo in Palermo forty years ago. Paintings left by the artist in the early XVII century in Palermo are his masterpieces, looking at them, you realize how expressive power of the missing painting had been written: the strange, enigmatic images, ispolnnnye in shades of night and fire. Caravaggio came to the island in 1608 At that time, he was the most celebrated artists of Rome, but, after a street fight, he killed a man, he had to flee from there.

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in Sicily, which was then under Spanish control, the fugitive was living in constant fear all the time he moved from place to place, to confuse sdely. His arrival coincided with the birth of a new artistic styles - Baroque, designed to decorate churches and cathedrals with statues of saints and angels. Church of San Lorenzo was one of these facilities. Actually, it was not a church, a place of assembly of the Commonwealth of God-fearing citizens. There was displayed the last picture painted by Caravaggio in Sicily until the day that on the night of October 18, 1969 thieves took it out of its frame and escaped, carrying away their booty.

In "Christmas" by Caravaggio, as ushering in the name of the picture, shown Nativity, but the image it has nothing to do with a Christmas card - there is no grace, no heat inherent in such scenes. This is an unusual product, which combine unsettling realism and violent imagination of the artist. Maria - commoner, nor her sad face, nor sad rags, in which she dressed, do not carry anything divine. Her child lay on a thin layer of straw thrown down on the ground. The dominant color pictures - drab, earthy. It seems that the humble characters, gathered at the shed to see the baby born in this cruel world, and no different from other children, nor that they do not, do not believe in new life in the possibility of redemption.

Palermo 60-ies of XX century. was not much more secure for life, than at the time of Caravaggio. South postwar Italy became a citadel of major crime. Thieves who had stolen in 1969, now Karavazhdo can be compared to looters in the deserted battlefield. Against the backdrop of the crimes committed in Palermo in these years, the theft of paintings may seem a trifle. But one way or another, but to date there is no official data on the fate of the paintings after the theft. That is why it is so interesting testimony Marino manna. He gave them in 1996, and since then the disappearance of the picture is constantly discussed. Some say that the painting was sold to Eastern Europe, there are other hypotheses. But none confirmed. The most important question - can we trust the testimony of manna?

Judge Giovanni Falcone, the most serious enemy that has ever had to deal Mafia, believes that these statements are credible. He drew attention to intelligence and the absence of claims by the mafia. And indeed, among the members of the Mafia was reputed semolina almost intellectual. His specialty was to cleanse the heroin, but in order to do this correctly, he had to study chemistry. He also explained that his reputation as a connoisseur of paintings he bought that stolen works of art, while still only a pretender to the status of "man of honor."

According to his testimony, in 1969, he and other mobsters have received an order: to steal "Christmas with St Francis and Lawrence." However, this task they handled very badly - they are roughly cut picture frame with a knife, and then squeezed it, turning off, so yes, that was a risk of damaging the paint layer. When the client saw the picture, "he cried" - told semolina, adding: "the painting was in horrendous condition." According to him, the picture was destroyed by acts of thieves.

Everyone wanted to believe - I would think - that this picture is hanging on a wall somewhere in an undisclosed location, a few kilometers from Palermo, or even that it is hidden in the attic of any policy of Rome. But what meaning byd Marino manna lying, inventing a fictitious version of the accidental shooting pictures? He's not the type of person to whom it is important to any cost to ensure that they said about him, and besides, he had bought himself a pardon by agreeing sotrudnichet with the judiciary.

So I think that was twelve years ago the fate of the paintings came to be known, even if people refuse to believe in this horrible way. Everything proves that the painting was stolen to order the Mafia. And to see her again on the wall of the oratorio likely no more than to meet people on the streets of Palermo, who were killed by the Mafia.