Stolen Barcelona sculpture and Madrid paintings recovered in Italy

A bronze sculpture stolen from a Barcelona art gallery in 2022 and two paintings taken from a Madrid exhibition in 2021 have been recovered in Italy and returned to Spain, authorities confirmed on Tuesday. 

The Spanish National Police received the artworks in a ceremony at the Spanish Embassy in Rome after an investigation in collaboration with the Italian police and Interpol.  

The recovered pieces include Port de Sant Sebastià by Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla, Cavall Blanc by Barcelona-born painter Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, and a lost-wax sculpture by artist Javier Martín. 

Spanish authorities were first alerted in April 2024, when Spain's Interior Attaché in Italy informed police of an operation in which Italian officers had seized three artworks believed to have been stolen from Spain.  

Further investigations confirmed that the paintings had been taken from a hotel in Madrid during an art exhibition in 2021, while the sculpture had been stolen from a Barcelona gallery in April 2022.

After gathering evidence, Spanish authorities coordinated with Interpol to arrange the repatriation of the pieces. The Spanish Ministry of Culture managed the legal process, and the artworks were officially returned to Spain on Tuesday morning.