Two Vincent Van Gogh paintings worth millions of dollars have been found in a country house belonging to an alleged Italian mafia drug smuggler, after disappearing in a daring heist 14 years ago.
Police found the priceless works during an anti-mafia operation in Naples.
READ MORE: Painting owned by retired Canadian not by famed artist, judge rules
Investigators said each artwork was worth an estimated 50 million euros ($55.85 million).
The Naples prosecutor said on Friday that the paintings were found “a few days ago”, and that Italian and Dutch experts were called in to authenticate them.
“We had confirmation from experts of the authenticity of the paintings. They have even found some details that only the original paintings had and which could only have been known by the owners of these paintings, that is the museum directors. And thank goodness all these details were found and the paintings are authentic,” prosecutor Giovanni Colangelo said.
The recovered works, “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen” (1884/5) and “View of the Sea at Scheveningen” (1882), are both from relatively early in Van Gogh’s short, tempestuous career.
READ MORE: Is this a $10M Peter Doig painting? Judge to decide on Canadian man’s lawsuit
“Well, needless to say it is a great day for us today to see the works and to know that they are safe and that they are in safe hands,” the director of the Van Gogh Museum, Axel Ruger said.
The paintings were found wrapped in cloth inside a safe in a country house south of Naples that belonged to Raffaele Imperiale, a 41-year-old businessman accused in January of running an international cocaine trafficking ring together with high-ranking mobsters.