VERONA, Italy (AP) — Italy's culture minister has traveled to Kiev to recover 17 paintings — including works by Tintoretto, Rubens and Mantegna — that were stolen from a Verona museum and recovered by Ukrainian law enforcement more than seven months ago.
Culture ministry video shows the works displayed in plain wooden frames, after their original frames went missing in the audacious heist by a guard with the help of his Moldovan girlfriend and at least four others.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini and Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi traveled to retrieve the paintings, and are scheduled to display them to reporters at the airport upon their return later Wednesday.
They will then be shown together at the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona, starting Friday, before being returned to their former spots after the holidays.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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