By Canadian Press

Painting found in Italian gallery’s walls verified as Klimt

Jan 17, 2020 | 6:56 AM

ROME — Art experts have confirmed that have determined that a stolen painting discovered hidden inside an Italian art gallery’s walls is Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of a Lady.”

A gardener at the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in the northern city of Piacenza reported finding an art work last month while clearing ivy. “Portrait of a Lady” was stolen from the gallery nearly 23 years ago.

“It’s with no small emotion that I can tell you the work is authentic,” Piacenza Prosecutor Ornella Chicca told reporters Friday.

The portrait, of a young woman sensually glancing over her shoulder against a dreamy green background, was displayed on an easel and flanked by two police officers at a news conference.

The painting is a later work by the Austrian art nouveau master. Klimt painted it in 1916-17, and its disappearance had been one of the art world’s biggest mysteries.

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Since it’s discovery, the work had been kept in a vault of a local branch of Italy’s central bank.

The Associated Press