Mafia informer asked to solve mystery of stolen Caravaggio

Barbara McMahon in Rome
Monday November 28, 2005
The Guardian


A detail from Caravaggio's Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence. The painting was stolen from the San Lorenzo oratory, Palermo in 1969

Art lovers in Sicily are appealing to a mafia informer serving a life term in prison to reveal the hiding place of a stolen Caravaggio worth an estimated £20m.

They believe Francesco Marino Mannoia knows the location of the Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence, which was cut from its frame in the San Lorenzo oratory, Palermo, in 1969. Mannoia, a heroin refiner whose mother, sister and aunt were murdered by the mafia after he turned state's evidence, has admitted taking part in the theft. He has revealed that the painting was damaged but has never given any clues to its location.


Palermo's artistic heritage societies, who have organised a new campaign for the Caravaggio's return, want Mannoia to help. "We cannot offer him anything for this information but we are appealing to his conscience. It is something he could do for the good of Sicily," said Riccardo Agnello, head of the Palermo branch of the Italian Environment Fund.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1652146,00.html