[MSN] Another church, another art theft.

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Published Saturday  |  March 17, 2007
Another church, another art theft
BY CHRIS OLSON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER 


It's hard to imagine how someone could steal a $100,000 painting of the
Virgin Mary from an Omaha cathedral during Lent.

St. Cecilia's painting, called "The Virgin Immaculata," is believed to have
been produced by an artist in the Cuzco School in Peru about 1700. The
stolen artwork, which is insured, is valued at $100,000.But the painting was
discovered missing after 7 a.m. Mass Friday at St. Cecilia Cathedral, 701 N.
40th St.

The Rev. Michael Gutgsell noticed the artwork Thursday night hanging right
where it was supposed to - in the Nash Chapel, adjacent to the south of the
main sanctuary.

Gutgsell said he didn't know how one or more thieves entered and left the
church with the oil painting from the cathedral's Spanish Colonial art
collection.

If they broke in during the night, the cathedral's security system did not
signal an alarm, he said.

"I closed the church Thursday night and opened it Friday morning, and there
was no sign of forced entry," Gutgsell said.

About 7:30 a.m. Friday, Gutgsell said, church officials discovered that the
oil canvas had been cut from its ornate frame, which remained hanging empty
on the wall.

The 8-foot by 5-foot painting was part of the collection given to the
historic Spanish Renaissance revival cathedral about five years ago by
individuals and groups of donors, Gutgsell said. Other paintings from the
collection hang in the Nash Chapel, but the one featuring Mary was the only
one stolen.

Omaha police are investigating the felony burglary, said Sgt. Teresa Negron.
No suspects are in custody, she said.

The church's entire art collection is insured. The stolen painting is valued
at $100,000 or more. Copies of the collection are on computer disk for
identification, Gutgsell said.

St. Cecilia is the fifth Omaha church to have artwork stolen since last
summer. Paintings also have been stolen from All Saints Episcopal Church,
Immaculate Conception Church, St. Thomas More Church and St. Joseph Church.
In those cases, too, the paintings were cut from their frames.

None of the artworks from those churches has been recovered, Negron said.
Anyone with information about this or the other thefts should call Crime
Stoppers at 444-7867, she said.

St. Cecilia's painting, called "The Virgin Immaculata," is considered the
most popular representation of the Virgin Mary in 17th century Spanish
painting.

It depicts Mary as a girl of 12 to 14 years, being crowned Queen of Heaven,
wearing a crown of stars and a blue mantle clothed in the sun, with the
crescent moon at her feet.

Such works were painted by artists, who were mostly anonymous, from the
Cuzco School in Peru. They were modeled directly after European artists by
copying printed engravings imported from Italy, Spain and Belgium.

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