The work, one of a series of murals painted in
June 2018 in the French capital, shows a veiled female figure
staring mournfully downwards.
Thieves stole the mural in January last year, apparently using
portable grinders to remove a fire-exit door before carrying it
off in a van, the daily La Repubblica reported.
Magistrates in the central city of L'Aquila said the mural had
been recovered on Wednesday morning from an attic.
Emanuele Mazzotta, a police commander from the nearby town of
Alba Adriatica, said the mural had been found in a house in the
countryside but it appeared that the occupants may not have been
aware of the value of the artwork or what it was.
"The man who on the other hand brought the Banksy mural inside
the house, had total control over it, he had free access to the
house and the door was placed in the upper part of the attic,"
he told a news conference.
The Bataclan, one of Paris' best-known rock venues, was stormed
by militants during a concert in November 2015, as part of
coordinated attacks around the city that killed 130 people.
Banksy, who keeps his real identity secret, has become one of
the most distinctive personalities of the modern art scene with
a series of witty artworks in public places that mix street art
techniques with powerful political points.
He has most recently reacted to the death of black American
George Floyd after a white police officer knelt on his neck.
He also proposed a new presentation of the toppling of 17th
century slave owner Edward Colston that was brought down by
protesters in the artist's home city of Bristol.
(Reporting by Eleanor Biles and Emily Roe; Editing by Giles
Elgood)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|