Friday 5 October 2007

Is there anything more beautiful than this ?



When I was 12 years old, I used to travel to a remote part of my province, Otago, in Central Otago, at a place called Buccleuch, now obviously named after the Scottish Lairds Buccleuch. The latest Lord of Buccleuch had his heirloom stolen. Is there a more beautiful painting than this ?

A £30 million Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from a castle four years ago is believed to have been recovered by detectives.

Although the painting has yet to be formally identified, officers from four crime enforcement agencies are confident that it is The Madonna With The Yarnwinder which was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle, near Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway in 2003.

The painting belonged to the Duke of Buccleuch who died last month at the age of 83. He was devastated when thieves stole his 16th century masterpiece. Until now, attempts to recover it had failed despite a £1 million reward.

A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary described the inquiry as "fast moving" but declined to give any further details about the investigation. He confirmed that the other agencies involved included the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Strathclyde Police.

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