Francisco de Goya ' Priceless' Engraving Stolen from Colombia Museum

Saturday, 13 September 2008 13:10

Bogota, Columbia - Authorities say thieves have stolen a ' priceless' engraving by Spanish master Francisco de Goya that was part of a visiting exhibit in the Colombian capital. Museum director Ana Maria Alzate says the small engraving was taken Thursday evening from the Gilberto Alzate Avendano Foundation. She pleaded Friday for the work's return and called the robbery a "great sadness." The "Tristes Presentimientos" or "Sad Feelings" engraving was one of 80 by the Spanish artist in a temporary exhibition on war in Bogota's Gilberto Alzate Avendano museum.

Metropolitan police deputy director Col. Yesid Vasquez said investigators have no suspects.

The work, titled "Sad Premonitions of What Must Happen," is part of "Disasters of War," a series of 80 engravings Goya made between 1810 and 1815.

The works are on loan from the Goya Fuendetodos Cultural Corporation of Zaragoza, Spain. The work is part of "Disasters of War," a series of 80 engravings Goya made between 1810 and 1815. In the 1810s, Goya created a set of aquatint prints titled The Disasters of War (Los desastres de la guerra) which depict scenes from the Peninsular War. The scenes are singularly disturbing, sometimes macabre in their depiction of battlefield horror, and represent an outraged conscience in the face of death and destruction. The prints were not published until 1863, 35 years after Goya's death.

"The work was removed last night (Thursday). It's part of Spain's cultural heritage with an incalculable value since it was the first work of a series," said exhibition manager Luis Ortiz.

The work, drawn between 1810 and 1814, was insured but Ortiz said they were hoping it would be recovered because the theft "caused great damage to the country."

The engraving, which began in the Bogota show on September 3, had also been due to travel to the northwestern city of Medellin and recently took part in similar exhibitions in China and France.

Goya (1746-1828) is regarded as the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Over the course of his long career, Goya moved from lightheartedness to deep pessimism and searching in his paintings, drawings, etchings, and frescoes.