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September 29, 2004

Found in Santa Fe Gallery, Stolen Altarpiece Returned to Mexico


   
   
   
By Mark Stevenson
The Associated Press
       MEXICO CITY   —   U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza formally returned to Mexico a 300-year-old altarpiece, stolen from a Mexican convent three years ago, after thieves tried to sell it for $255,000 at an art gallery in Santa Fe.
    The return of the carved and gilded wooden altarpiece is a reflection of how thefts of colonial artwork have increased in recent years, even as the pilferage of pre-Hispanic archaeological artifacts has decreased.
    Mexican officials thanked the United States for detecting and returning the piece, and pledged to do everything on their end to prevent more thefts, including setting up an Internet site to track stolen colonial art and organizing community guards to keep watch on Mexico's 17,000 colonial church buildings.
    "The return of this work of art restores a priceless part of the cultural and religious heritage to the people of Mexico," Garza said as he symbolically delivered the massive panel, carved from a single piece of wood, at federal police headquarters in Mexico City.
    Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha said professional thieves had stolen it from a chapel at the former Franciscan Convent in the tiny central Mexican village of Tochimilco, Puebla, in 2001.
    The altarpiece, which measures about 4 feet by 6 feet and depicts St. Francis receiving stigmas after having a vision of Jesus Christ, was found on display at a Santa Fe gallery in April and seized as stolen goods.
    The gallery's staff was unaware that it had been taken from Mexico illegally.
    The altarpiece is believed to have been carved between 1675 and the early 1700s. Mexican law prohibits the export of almost all such artworks from the 1521-1821 colonial period.
    Asked how it was smuggled out of the country, Macedo de la Concha said the robbery was the work of "an organized group."
    "This was done with the collaboration of a lot of people, probably including some officials, it must be said."
    While there is no official count of how many religious artworks have been stolen in Mexico, he said there were probably quite a few, noting "this is very lucrative."
    He said that the piece was to be auctioned and may have received more than the $255,000 asking price. But, he added, "It's not about the economic value, it is a part of us, our roots, our essence, our traditions and the life of our nation."
    Macedo de la Concha pledged to return the piece, which formed the back wall of an altar, to Tochimilco, where it has religious significance for local parishioners.
    Sergio Arroyo, director of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, said his agency is locked in a battle to try to catalogue the estimated 4 million to 5 million pieces of historic artwork in the nation's 17,000 old church buildings. Only about one-quarter of that has been examined and catalogued so far.
    Authorities are also working on programs to train local parishioners to keep watch on churches that are often left open, and where guards can't be permanently posted. He called on church authorities to give researchers greater access to temples and convents.
    "Thefts in churches have increased in the past few years, while archaeological theft has declined," Arroyo said, adding that archeologists' presence at pre-Hispanic sites has made the difference.
    "The best way to prevent looting is to have more researchers present," he said.