Pablo Picasso’s “Head of a Woman and Piet Mondrian’s “Stammer Windmill” have been recovered nine years after they had been stolen during a heist at the National Gallery of Athens.
At the time, police had been baffled by the heist, where two burglars entered the gallery in the early hours through an unlocked balcony. They drew security guards away from the paintings which they stole by setting off alarms in other locations throughout the museum, they then swiftly stripped the paintings from their frames.
Two men were convicted for the heist, however the identity of the mastermind had not been revealed.
The two works were recovered in Keratea, eastern Attica, hidden inside the house of a man being monitored by the police.
Another artifact that had been stolen during the 2012 was an early 17th-century sketch attributed to the Italian Mannerist artist Guglielmo Caccia, however it was found damaged.
Picasso had created “Head of a Woman” in 1939, and offered the work to the Greek people to honour those in the resistance against Nazi Germany during the country’s German Occupation ten years after he created it, in 1949.
READ MORE: Picasso stolen from Athens gallery
A dedication at the back of the painting, in Spanish, says: “Pour le peuple grec, hommage de Picasso” (For the Greek people, tribute from Picasso).
The Mondrian painting had been created in 1905 and a second one had been left at the scene, dropped by the thieves while they were making their getaway.
Reuters news agency reported that a Greek man had been arrested after the art was found hidden at a gorge, according to an anonymous source.
Months ago, it had been reported that the Greek police still believed the artwork was still in the country.
