Police suspects an art critic from western Ukraine of stealing “Kiss of Judas” painting by Caravaggio from an Odessa museum.
According to the Interior Ministry’s press-service, Minister Yuri Lutsenko claimed this to a press conference in Odessa on Tuesday.
According to him, law-enforcement bodies suspect an art critic from western Ukraine of organizing the crime. The suspect used to work in Odessa museums, and lived in western Ukraine. However, after the crime was committed, he disappeared without trace.
The Minister added that the police is carrying out an expertise of canvas that remained on the stretcher.
As UNIAN reported earlier, a painting by Caravaggio was stolen in Ukraine in the beginning of August. The Baroque painting, which is alternately known as “The Kiss of Judas” and “The Taking of Christ,” was stolen from the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odessa. The discovery was made when museum workers arrived to find the painting cut from its frame. The police said that the thieves could have entered the museum through the windows, bypassing an outdated alarm system.
