Although art experts and historians disagree whether the work was actually painted by this Baroque genius, perhaps the latter only slightly touched it, or perhaps it was the work of his students or followers copying the famous master, but research shows that it is undoubtedly a 17th-century painting. a work created during Caravaggio’s lifetime.
“It is believed that the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin has the original of this work, it dates back to 1602. Therefore, this Odesa Museum exhibit brought to Vilnius could be the second version of the artist’s own popular work, made for another customer. Or a very valuable copy of it from a similar period,” says A. Gelūnas, emphasizing that the authorship of this work still raises many questions and speculations.
However, this painting is unique not only for its origin story, but also for its abduction and release from the hands of criminals that took place almost two decades ago.
Gintarė Grigėnaitė’s photo. / Unpacking the masterpiece “The Arrest of Christ” attributed to LNDM/Caravaggio at the LNDM Pranas Gudyna Restoration Center
The story of the picture is worthy of a detective
This painting from the 19th century. was brought to Russia thanks to the grand duke and art collector Vladimir Alexandrovich Romanov. However, in the 20th century At the beginning of the year, the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts donated the painting to the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. “In this way, throughout the 20th century, the painting, which at that time was undoubtedly attributed to Caravaggio, was exhibited and kept in Ukraine,” said A. Gelūnas.
However, in 2008, this masterpiece was stolen from the Odessa museum. The thieves then behaved extremely brutally – they cut the canvas out of the frames, and then sought to sell the painting on the black market. Just at that time, the value of this piece on the black market – 100 million euros – was also looming.
In 2010, the Ukrainian law enforcement in cooperation with Interpol and the German police, during a very cunningly planned operation, the painting was safely stolen from the criminals. Police officers then arrested three people for this crime.
Gintarė Grigėnaitė’s photo. / LNDM/Masterpiece “The Arrest of Christ” attributed to Caravaggio
When the legal proceedings began, even the 15-year-old painting was held as physical evidence in a court in Kyiv, so it was inaccessible to the Ukrainian public for a long time.
The painting was badly damaged during the theft, so it needed restoration. According to A.Gelūnas, this work was then undertaken by the experts of the Kyiv Restoration Center. After extensive research and painstaking work, as well as requests from various art institutions and even political figures, the status of crime evidence was no longer applied to this masterpiece, so it was finally put on display in the exposition spaces of the National Sofia Reserve in Kyiv.
According to A. Gelūnas, since the first visit in 2019 to the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art and the acquaintance with its director Igor Poronik, with whom, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several joint evacuation and restoration projects of works of art have already been implemented, they started talking about the rescue and preservation operation of this painting during the war.
Gintarė Grigėnaitė’s photo. / LNDM/Odesa Western and Eastern Art Museum director Igor Poronik, shooters Valdonė Ugianskienė and Narimantas Savickas
“We know that the territory of Ukraine is constantly shelled and bombed, so the protection and evacuation of works of art is a constant concern of Ukrainians and their partners in Europe. We are happy to contribute to this important work and the rescue of this work of art, which is extremely significant for the culture of the whole world,” said A. Gelūnas.
According to the director of the Lithuanian National Art Museum, due to the circumstances of the war and security, this painting was not returned to the Odessa museum, but with an armed escort of Ukrainian and Polish, and on the territory of Lithuania, Lithuanian shooters, it was brought from Kyiv to our country and on April 20. safely reached Vilnius.
Gintarė Grigėnaitė’s photo. / Unpacking the masterpiece “The Arrest of Christ” attributed to LNDM/Caravaggio at the LNDM Pranas Gudyna Restoration Center
The masterpiece will be exhibited in Vilnius
Currently, according to A. Gelūnas, the painting is entrusted to the experts of the Pranas Gudynas Restoration Center, who will carry out X-ray spectroscopic analysis. This is what will allow you to see all the overlaying layers of the work: what were the earliest or later versions of it, what corrections were made, etc.
“This is an extremely interesting and valuable study, which, we hope, will make it possible to shed more light on the circumstances of the painting’s creation, and maybe even answer other questions related to its history,” said the director of the Lithuanian National Art Museum.
By the way, together with this work, two 15th century paintings were also brought from Ukraine. Italian reliefs that will be restored in Vilnius. “We are constantly working with Ukrainians in this extremely difficult period for them, when they are faced with shortages of resources, workers and materials. Today, such support for Ukrainian artistic values and their preservation is also extremely important,” said A. Gelūnas.
Gintarė Grigėnaitė’s photo. / LNDM/Standing from left to right: Šaulys Narimantas Savickas, director of the LNDM Pranas Gudynas Restoration Center, dr. Jūratė Senvaitienė, general director of LNDM dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, director of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art Igor Poronik, shooter Valdonė Ugianskienė.
It is planned that from the beginning of June, this masterpiece of the Baroque period will be exhibited in the Vilnius Picture Gallery and will be open to everyone who wants to see it. According to the head of the museum, if nothing changes, this exhibition in Vilnius should work for at least half a year.
The exhibition of this painting is expected to be accompanied by intriguing meetings and lectures. One of them is that Ukrainian policeman Denys Fomychov, who took part in the operation to free this painting from criminals and even wrote a book about it, will come to Vilnius.
According to A. Gelūnas, the story of the abduction of the painting from the Odessa museum and its rescue is so colorful and intriguing that there are even plans to create a series about it in Ukraine.
