Stolen Leonardo copy found in cupboard

A 16TH-CENTURY copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Saviour of the World has been recovered by Italian police from a cupboard in a flat in Naples.

The museum from which it was stolen had no idea it was missing.

The copy of Salvator Mundi, which depicts Jesus with one hand raised in a blessing and the other holding a crystal orb, is believed to have been painted by a pupil of Leonardo.

It was stolen some time in the last few months from a collection of art works inside the Basilica di San Domenico Maggiore in Naples.

The painting was of “inestimable value”, Italian police said in a statement.

It was found “hidden in a bedroom” in a flat in Naples. The owner of the property, a 36-year-old man, was arrested not far away on charges of receiving stolen goods, police said.

The oil painting, which dates to the early 1500s, is believed to be by artist Giacomo Alibrandi, a member of the artistic school of Leonardo.

The museum had not noticed its theft because it had been closed for three months as a result of Italy’s coronavirus lockdown measures.

Police are trying to ascertain how it was stolen, said Giovanni Melillo, a Naples prosecutor. “It is plausible that it was a theft commissioned by an organisation working in the international art trade,” he said.

Alfredo Fabbrocini, a senior police officer involved in the investigation, said: “It is very satisfying to have restored an art work of such great importance to the people of Naples.”

The original Salvator Mundi was sold in 2017 for a record $450 million (£330million) at an auction at Christie’s in New York.

But there is ongoing debate as to its authenticity and it has not been seen in public since it was sold.