Stolen manuscript of 1600 recovered in Florence: the return to Rome
This morning a precious seventeenth-century manuscript was returned by the Commander of the Carabinieri of the Nucleus for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Florence, Cap. Claudio Mauti, to the Provincial Minister of the Friars Minor, Fr. Luciano De Giusti, representing the Province of San Bonaventura of the Friars Minor. The ancient illuminated manuscript dating back to 1633, of considerable size with historiated and illustrated initial letters by Father Francesco da Ischia for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, was stolen in an unspecified period in the church of Santa Maria del Gesù. Today the asset has returned to the Cultural Center of the Friars Minor of the Province of San Bonaventura, at the Ara Coeli in Rome.
The investigation, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Florence, originated from the military’s daily control of the antiques market, specifically the sale by a well-known Florentine auction house, and ended with the seizure of some lots of bibliographic and archival assets, including the manuscript, for a total value of almost 100 thousand euros. In particular, the asset had been put up for sale by a person who was found to be extraneous to the offense, having come into possession of it by hereditary succession.
The volume, an important historiographical testimony of the seventeenth century, was also recognized thanks to the collaboration of an art historian expert in the sector who recognized its style and author.