Stolen tapestry returned after 34 years

Palma de Mallorca – a 16th century religious tapestry which police suspect was stolen by one of Europe’s most prolific art thieves from a cathedral in Spain in 1979 has been returned to the country after an odyssey that took it to five countries. Culture Minister, Jose Ignacio Wert and Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, presented the wool and silk tapestry, depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, at a Madrid news conference a day after it was handed over the Spanish officials from the US customs service. The US Homeland Security Investigations Unit seized the artifact last November from an unidentified Texas business that had bought it at auction three years ago for $369.000. The tapestry had been stolen in December 1979 from the Cathedral of Saint Vincent in Roda de Isabene in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain. The tapestry was one of several works of art that were stolen from the Cathedral which is located in the fortified town in the Pyrenees.
Palma de Mallorca