When they weren’t trafficking drugs or laundering money, it seems some mafia bosses were busy collecting — and stealing — priceless art.
Now, 80 of these recovered treasures have been unveiled to the public at Milan’s Palazzo Reale in Italy.
Titled “Save Arts: From Confiscations to Public Collections”, the exhibition at Palazzo Reale features paintings, sculptures, and graphic works by renowned artists including Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, Robert Rauschenberg, and Christo.
First previewed in Rome, the traveling exhibition opened in Milan on December 3 and runs until late January. It will then move to Reggio Calabria, Italy, a known stronghold of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia, before concluding in April.
Afterward, the artworks will be donated to state museums across Italy.
The exhibition also features videos and newspaper cuttings documenting the police operations that recovered these pieces. Some were used by criminal organizations as currency for arms and drug deals.
Notable Recoveries
Among the most high-profile cases of mafia-linked art theft is the recovery of two Vincent van Gogh paintings in 2016.
Estimated to be worth $55 million each, the works had been stolen from a museum in Amsterdam in 2002 and were later found on a property near Naples owned by incarcerated mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale.
In 2013, Italian police dismantled an international money laundering network, confiscating many of the artworks featured in the exhibition.
In 2016, at least 20 pieces were seized from a boss of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.
For now, you can experience the recovered artworks at the Palazzo Reale in Milan until January 26.
