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November 17, 1999

CONTENTS:

- The Great Skylight Thefts (Jonathan Sazonoff)
- art insurance
- Vandals sack villas of Rome

From: Jonathan Sazonoff saz@kwom.com
Subject:

The Great Skylight Thefts

Dear Subscribers,
With decreasing US crime rates, and the apparent "unfencability" of major paintings, it seems that North America's great skylight robberies are perhaps a thing of the past. The recent recovery of Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Rabbi" reminds us of the infamous "skylight thefts" of decades gone by: In most of these cases some stolen objects have been recovered. However, to gain greater perspective on this athletic and provocative MO, I was wondering if anyone on the list can bring to mind other major skylight jobs?
This subject also raises some other interesting questions: It all seems like a lot of work for something one can't easily sell.
Jonathan Sazonoff
SAZ PRODUCTIONS, INC.
http://www.saztv.com
Contributing US Ed.
Museum Security Network
http://www.museum-security.org/saz.html

Museum-L
From: Susan Thompson SGTHOM@BYUGATE.BYU.EDU
Subject:

art insurance

We are a medium size fine art museum associated with a large university. We have a beautiful new facility (just six years old) which houses a collection going back to the first decades of the century. We have a very ambitious exhibition schedule featuring important contemporary artists as well as borrowing magnificent works from some prestigious institutions. Our insurance coverage has always been handled through the university risk management department. We feel it is time to examine the possiblity of obtaining our own fine arts insurance package independent of the university coverage. Any suggestions, experiences (either good or bad), just general dialog would be most appreciated. You can contact me off list so as not to tie up other people's time.
Thank you, so much,
Sue Thompson
Sr. Registrar
BYU/MOA

Vandals sack villas of Rome

FROM RICHARD OWEN IN ROME
ITALIAN authorities are stepping up security to guard works of art in the grounds of Rome's historic villas, restored at a cost of millions of pounds, from vandals armed with spray paint and hammers. The city's millennium programme has focused on the restoration of leading attractions, such as the Colosseum and St Peter's Basilica, but funds have also been allocated to the city's 34 landscaped villas, which are expected to attract many of visitors, which could total 40 million, expected next year.
The villas' parks and gardens are vulnerable to attack. In the Pincio Gardens, which form part of the Villa Borghese park overlooking the Piazza del Popolo, most of the 228 busts of distinguished artists, scientists and statesmen that decorate the shaded walks have been vandalised, with noses smashed and pedestals covered in graffiti. The villa and gardens, on which UKP.6 million has been spent, house one of the world's greatest art collections, featuring masterpieces by the Baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Someone has drawn breasts on the great Roman orator Cicero; St Catherine of Siena's bludgeoned nose is covered in green paint. A statue in honour of the German writer, Goethe, at the edge of the Villa Borghese gardens, is also damaged. Vandals have hacked off the horns and part of the face of Mephistopheles and have also attacked the figure of Faust. A similar sum was spent on the Villa Doria Pamfili, which has also had statues savaged. The villa, on the Janiculum Hill overlooking St Peter's, was built in the 17th century by Olimpia Maldachini, the powerful and scheming sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X (1644-1655), who was born Giambattista Pamfili (and was allegedly closer to his sister-in-law than he should have been). Statues at the Villa Aldobrandini, near the Quirinal Palace, the residence of the Italian President, have also been damaged.
Some of the most costly damage is carried out by graffiti artists, who, according to one frustrated restorer, "seem to watch until we've carefully cleaned a monument, and then move in". One of the vandals' favourite targets is the Villa Torlonia, near the British Embassy at Porta Pia. Its modern fame stems from the fact that it was once the Rome residence of Benito Mussolini. "Twenty-four hours after restoration work finished last month, the marble walls were covered in neo-Fascist graffiti," one custod-ian said. He said the vandals had struck before a protective coat of resin had been applied.
Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, noted that "all it takes is a couple of seconds with a hammer or a spray can and thousands of pounds' worth of rest-oration funds go up in smoke". Eugenio La Rocca, Rome's Superintendent of Arts and Culture, said that antiquities such as Roman columns, as well as rare plants, were stolen regularly. The city council was reviewing park security this week.
"We can't transform Rome into a military bunker," Professor La Rocca said. "The answer lies in installing video security cameras and in educating our citizens to make them more aware of Italy's heritage." However, Loredana De Petris, a senior official on the city council, said that electronic surveillance was "useless in parks and gardens". The only answer was extra police. "Otherwise we shall have to hire private security guards. It would be cheaper in the long run." Officials said that many statues in Rome's parks had been removed to safety over the past year and replaced by plastic copies, but thieves had stolen the replicas to adorn private gardens and living rooms, "just as they used to steal the originals".
http:/www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/11/16/timfgneur01007.html

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