Da Vinci and Art Theft in Scotland

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As some of you might have heard already, the Leonardo da Vinci painting Madonna of the Yarnwinder was recovered yesterday by the Dumfries and Galloway Police after it was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire four years ago.

The press has already written extensively about the recovery (see The Times and BBC) but nevertheless it warrants a bit of attention from the Legal Research Society. This is mainly down to our own Derek Fincham, who this morning appeared on the BBC radio programme Good Morning Scotland to give an interview on the significance of the recovery as well as to the general problem of art theft. Derek makes a number of good points, in particular with regard to the vulnerable situation of arts and antiquities stored in Scotland’s many country estates. Listen for yourself here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7020000/newsid_7029600/7029610.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1.

As a little side note, it is worth mentioning that four persons were arrested in connection with the recovery; two of which were lawyers.

Read more about the recovery on Derek’s own blog on http://illicit-cultural-property.blogspot.com/

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