The missing segment is in the bottom left corner.
A man named Rene Alphonse Ghislain van den Berghe crept into the church.
Now, 42 years later, the piece has been recovered and reunited with the whole work.
“The Apotheosis of the Arts,” by Corneille Schutz, in the Church of Santo Domingo in Castrojeriz, Spain. The missing segment is in the bottom left corner. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 4.0)
The tapestry in question depicts the categories of the liberal arts in allegorical form.
It was crafted around 1654 in Bruges by Schut.
Last year, Alcaraz decided to pursue the long-lost textile.
The tapestry segmented at last returns. (Photo:Archdiocese of Burgos)
He contacted a former lawyer for Van den Berghe who was able to lead him to the missing piece.
It was at last returned to the Church of Santo Domingo in the Archdiocese of Burgos.
As for Van den Berghe, his decades of art theft ended with his capture in 1982.
The Church of Santo Domingo in Castrojeriz, Spain. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons,CC BY-SA 2.0)
After his release, he helped officials track down the stollen items until he died in 2020.
Certainly he seems to have maintained an element of pride in his thefts.
This theft has at last been fully solved, and one precious work is restored to its rightful home.
“Cornelis Schut(z),” by Anthony van Dyck, between 1628 and 1636. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
The tapestry segmented at last returns.
(Photo:Archdiocese of Burgos)
The tapestry isThe Apotheosis of the Artsby Corneille Schutz.
The Church of Santo Domingo in Castrojeriz, Spain.
When it was eventually recovered, a fragment was missing.
Cornelis Schut(z), by Anthony van Dyck, between 1628 and 1636.
