Éditions Pigouchet is pleased to announce the forthcoming English edition of Pompeo Micheli’s study of the 1998 theft of three major paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne from Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and their subsequent recovery.

Written by a former officer of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) who participated directly in the investigation, the volume combines first-hand testimony with judicial records, contemporary press documentation and an analysis of investigative methods. Rather than approaching the case simply as a crime narrative, the English edition places it within the broader history of cultural-heritage protection in Italy and examines the institutional, legal and operational framework surrounding the recovery of stolen works of art.    

The theft and recovery of the two works by Van Gogh and the painting by Cézanne constitute an important case study in the history of Italian cultural-property protection. The volume also documents the development of investigative practices within the TPC and addresses questions of museum security, illicit trafficking, international cooperation and the evidentiary value of archival and judicial sources.