Police Recover €5m Painting By Francis Bacon
The Spanish National Police have recovered a painting by the late artist Francis Bacon that was stolen from a banker’s Madrid home in 2015.
The €5m work is one of five portraits of the Spanish entrepreneur and businessman, José Capelo, who was a friend of the artist and with whom he stayed in his apartment in the Plaza de la Encarnación de Madrid when visiting the capital.
Three of the stolen paintings were recovered in 2017.
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the theft, which police say enabled them to locate the missing painting.
In total, 16 people have been arrested over the theft since 2015. This includes the person who is believed to be behind the heist and the people who are thought to have carried it out.
According to a police statement the investigation into the thefts has been ongoing since the five works, worth €25m, were stolen in July 2015.
It is believed to have been biggest art theft of contemporary art in Spain.
A safe containing jewels and coins was also taken at the time.
“Investigations are continuing to locate the remaining work and arrest those in possession of it, with the focus on Spanish nationals with links to organised groups from Eastern Europe,” a police statement said.
Francis Bacon was born in Dublin in 1909 and moved to England when young where he went on to become one of the most prominent artists of his era.
He loved coming to Madrid where spent many hours in the Prado Museum and then going out to enjoy the capital´s vibrant nightlife.
He died in Madrid in 1992, aged 82.
