1961 Goya Theft by Pensioner Protestor Reveals National Gallery Reluctance

On 21 August 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 61-year-old retired bus driver hailing from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, took Francisco Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London as a protest against television license fees for seniors. The British government had acquired the artwork for £140,000 from Charles Wrightsman. After being missing for four years, Bunton returned the painting on 5 May 1965. Although he was found not guilty of the painting's theft, he was convicted for stealing its £100 frame, resulting in a three-month prison sentence. This incident happened nearly fifty years after Vincenzo Perugia's theft of the Mona Lisa in August 1911. The portrait is set to be exhibited at Apsley House when it reopens on 8 July 2020.