“This affair lacks clarity.”

Those are the words of the chief prosecutor, Thomas Pison, in the strange affair of the museum guard at Ajaccio. Trawling the web I came across this update from The Australian.

Apart from the Poussin, King Midas at the Pactolus, Giovanni Bellini Madonna and Child, there’s a Pentecost by Mariotto di Nardi (left) and “another Virgin and Child by a 17th century Umbrian painter.” I wonder if they’ve got that last bit right?  The guard Antoine Mocellini has now been charged with “theft with an organised gang as well as attempted theft.”

In another twist to an already bizarre tale, the charge has been extended to a Titian which “someone” had tried to unhook from the wall. I also understand that there’s lots of time unaccounted for- the security video tapes should prove interesting. Also, Mr Mocellini underwent “psychiatric evaluation” before interrogation by the police.

According to The Australian,

“The paintings could be worth millions of Euros on the black market or in ransom from an insurance company. Police said that if the theft were professional the art could have left on an early morning ferry. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said he was appalled and vowed to solve the case. Philippe Costamagna, the director of the museum, said: "These works are unsellable because they are catalogued throughout the whole world." The Palais Fesch has the biggest French collection of Italian art outside the Louvre. Mr Mocellini took three of its four most prized works.”

I’m obviously upset at the theft of the Poussin, and of course the other works, and wish the French authorities every success in retrieving the pictures and bringing the culprits to book.

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