The Stolen Sicilian Caravaggio

On Oct. 17, 1969, Caravaggio's "Nativity With Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence" was stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Italy. Public Domain

It was a dark and stormy night when one of the world’s most infamous art heists took place. The date was Oct. 17, 1969, and the location was Palermo, Sicily. As the skies shook with thunder and lightning following a parched summer, two thieves entered the Oratory of Saint Lawrence through a window. Using razor blades, they cut with surgical precision a beloved painting by Caravaggio from its frame above the altar. Nearly 55 years later, “Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence” remains missing. It’s ranked on the FBI’s list of top 10 art crimes.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) was one of the most important and influential artists of the Baroque movement and, indeed, all of art history. Caravaggio transformed the popular Renaissance painting style of idealization by exploring new practices. He utilized ordinary people to pose as models, employed theatrical lighting, and used unconventional compositions that broke down the barrier between the viewer and the realm of the painting.

Caravaggio in Context

A chalk portrait of the painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, circa 1621, by Ottavio Leoni. The Marucelliana Library, Florence. Public Domain

Caravaggio spent most of his career living on the Italian Peninsula. He trained in Milan, then was active in Rome, where he became a celebrated artist until he was involved in a violent altercation. He fled the city, journeying first to Naples and then Malta. In exile, Caravaggio worked incredibly quickly and produced some of his greatest masterpieces, known for their expressiveness.

He received several religious commissions, producing celebrated works such as “Seven Works of Mercy” for the Neapolitan church of Pio Monte della Misericordia and “The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist” for the Maltese Saint John’s Co-Cathedral. Both of these canvases are still in situ.

Caravaggio spent 1608 to 1609 on the island of Sicily. He painted the large “Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence,” in 1609, though some scholars dispute this. They date the canvas to 1600, believing it was made in Rome and transported to Palermo. Caravaggio returned to Naples in the fall of 1609. Journeying back to Rome the following year, he fell ill and died at the age of 38. His short but storied career, which spanned just over 15 years, produced some of the most highly prized paintings in the world.

While in Sicily, Caravaggio lived in Syracuse and Messina before traveling to Palermo. Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon writes in “Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane” that the artist stayed in Palermo for no more than two months. The poignant “Nativity With Saints Francis and Lawrence,” which Graham-Dixon dates to 1609, was painted for a Franciscan confraternity.

"Nativity With Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence," 1600, by Caravaggio. Oil on canvas; 105 1/2 inches by 77 1/2 inches. Public Domain

At the center of this scene are the Virgin and Christ Child. She gazes upon him tenderly. They are surrounded by Saint Francis, Saint Lawrence, and a seated Saint Joseph. Above them floats an angel who holds a banner reading “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” or “Glory to God in the highest.” The inclusion of the angel is the only indication of divinity. The other figures appear as if they are from everyday life. All are set against a dark background, a Caravaggio hallmark, and lit by diffused light.

Graham-Dixon compares “Nativity With Saints Francis and Lawrence” to “The Adoration of the Shepherds,” a canvas Caravaggio painted in Messina as a Franciscan commission. He writes in his biography of the artist that Caravaggio “painted a rather sweeter version of the heartbreakingly bare Adoration in Messina. The Virgin is still weary, still seated on the ground, but without the same sense of desolation and isolation.”

"Adoration of the Shepherds," circa 1609, by Caravaggio. Oil on canvas; 10 foot 3 3/5 inches by 6 foot, 11 inches. Regional Museum of Messina, Sicily. Public Domain

Artistry Memorialized

From the early 17th century into the mid-20th century, “Nativity With Saints Francis and Lawrence” remained in the same location. The identities of the criminals behind the 1969 theft, along with their motive, remain unclear. The general consensus is that the Sicilian mafia perpetrated the crime.

Investigators are in a race against time to recover the work, for many suspects and witnesses are aged or already deceased. After the theft of “Nativity With Saints Francis and Lawrence,” an enlarged photographic reproduction of the missing painting was placed on the stucco altar wall. In 2015, it was upgraded; a facsimile painting created by a digital restoration laboratory was installed.

Oratory of San Lorenzo interior with a digital reproduction of the stolen Caravaggio painting above the altar. Fabrizio Garrisi/CC BY-SA 4.0

Speculation about the state of the painting runs rife with wild rumors. Unconfirmed theories include that it was burned in a fire; put in an abandoned farm building for safekeeping where pigs and rats ate it; sliced into pieces; or even damaged during the steal when the thieves rolled the canvas up, causing the paint to crack and disintegrate.

Some are more optimistic about the painting’s condition and believe that it remains intact, whether still in the possession of a mafia boss or sold to another party. In recent years, Italian officials have followed leads to Switzerland and Eastern Europe, but the mystery of the painting’s whereabouts continues. Hopefully, the day will come when the public can once again view and gaze admiringly at Caravaggio’s original “Nativity With Saints Francis and Lawrence.”

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