Achi news desk-
Spanish investigators said on Thursday (May 23) that they found a painting by British artist Francis Bacon nine years after it was stolen from a Madrid apartment.
The painting, worth an estimated 5 million euros ($5.4 million), was found in an apartment in the Spanish capital, police said.
The piece was the fourth of five pieces by Bacon, worth a total of €25 million, to be recovered since they were stolen in June 2015.
Investigators were able to find the painting thanks to new information gathered after the arrest of two people in February who were suspected of handling stolen art. The police said that 16 people have now been arrested in connection with the theft, including the original suspects in the operations.
Some of them had contacts with organized crime groups in Eastern Europe.
The investigation will continue until the final restoration of the painting.
The 2015 theft made headlines around the world after a Madrid apartment belonging to an ex-boyfriend of Bacon’s was broken into by burglars who managed to disable an alarm system and steal the paintings without leaving any fingerprints.
Bacon, who was born in Ireland to British parents, is remembered as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He died of a heart attack in April 1992 during a trip to Madrid.
