Palermo Marks 50 Years Since Caravaggio Theft with Caravaggio50 Festival

Key facts

• Caravaggio's 'Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence' was stolen between October 12 and 17, 1969.
• The theft was discovered on October 18, 1969, by two caretakers.
• In 2017, the Anti-Mafia Commission led by Rosi Bindi concluded the painting still exists, cut into pieces, and taken to Switzerland.
• Caravaggio50 runs from October 10 to 20, 2019, in Palermo.
• Factum Arte created a 3D replica of the Nativity installed at the Oratorio di San Lorenzo two years ago.
• The exhibition 'The Return of Lost Masterpieces' at Museo Abatellis will feature seven replicas.
• The 'Next' series displays eight contemporary Nativity works commissioned by the Friends of Sicilian Museums.
• Artists in the 'Next' exhibition include Laboratorio Saccardi, Francesco De Grandi, Adalberto Abbate, Fulvio Di Piazza, Igor Scalisi Palminteri, Daniele Franzela, Alessandro Bazan, and Francesco Simeti.