mfa bostons historic restitution five new louvre arrests made and more morning links for october 30 2025 1234759428

Five additional suspects have been arrested in connection with the October 19 Louvre heist, in which thieves stole jewels worth €88 million ($102 million) from the museum in broad daylight. The arrests occurred in the Paris region, with one main suspect among them; three of the four-man team are now in custody, while one remains at large. Separately, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has agreed to return two ceramic works by enslaved potter David Drake to his descendants, marking the first time the museum has restituted art taken under slavery in the 19th century United States. One vessel will remain on loan to the MFA, while the other, Drake's Poem Jar, has been repurchased by the museum with a "certificate of ethical ownership."

An Inside Look at Realizing Koyo Kouoh’s Venice Biennale Exhibition and More: Morning Links for April 29, 2026

The article reports on the 2026 Venice Biennale proceeding without its curator Koyo Kouoh, who died last May from liver cancer. Her husband Philippe Mall and son Djibril Schmed agreed with Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco to continue the exhibition, which opens to the public on May 9. Elsewhere, a Chicago judge sentenced Robert Dunlap to 23 years for a cryptocurrency scam claiming to be backed by artworks by Picasso, Dalí, and van Gogh. A Renoir painting once owned by the Duchess of Alba is returning to Spain, and a robot docent named R1 debuted at Palazzo Madama in Turin.

A New Antonello da Messina Discovered. It Will Go to Auction in June: Could Sicily Step Forward to Buy It This Time?

Scoperto un nuovo Antonello da Messina. Andrà in asta a giugno: stavolta potrebbe farsi avanti la Sicilia per l’acquisto?

A newly discovered small wooden panel painting, depicting the face of a young beardless saint, has been attributed to the Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. The work, a fragment of a lost composition, will be auctioned on June 16 by Parisian auction house Ader alongside a signed early work by Peter Paul Rubens. Both come from an anonymous collector who purchased them in France decades ago.