Leonardo painting is back on show, but the enigma remains

Clare McCormack, who works at the National Gallery of Scotland, where Leonardo Da Vinci's only painting in Scotland, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, is now on display
Lindsay McIntosh

She disappeared six years ago, snatched from the wall of a Scottish stately home, and remained hidden while elite investigators searched for her. Yesterday, she was back on display — and as enigmatic as ever.

Madonna of the Yarnwinder, one of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces, whose theft and subsequent discovery in the offices of a Glasgow law firm remain a matter of intrigue and controversy, was unveiled at the National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, where it dominates a collection of Italian Masters.

“It is like a wonderful Christmas present,” said Michael Clarke, the gallery director.

He says the painting is undamaged despite its ordeal, and has not required any restoration. It even has a “new” 16th century frame from which to view the crowds it is expected to draw.

It was on the morning of August 23, 2003, that the painting was taken from within Drumlanrig Castle, the Dumfriesshire family seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch.

The 9th duke had been so attached to what was one of very few Leonardos in private ownership that he carried it between his three homes.

Nothing was heard for four years and then it turned up in the law firm. Eight men have been charged but a trial has yet to be held.

The 9th duke died in 2007, just weeks before its recovery, but his son, the 10th duke, has lent the gallery the picture and it will be shown for at least the next two years. Valued in the region of £50 million, the work, owned by the Buccleuch Heritage Trust, was considered so important that it was placed on the FBI’s list of the world’s ten most wanted stolen artworks.

“One very much hoped we would see it again,” said Mr Clarke. “Very often these great works do come back — though not always, sadly — and they are recovered often through clever police work. I know it was extremely upsetting for the previous Duke of Buccleuch. I know he was really, really knocked back by this theft. It is a pity the recovery did not come in time for him to enjoy it.”

Mr Clarke was one of the first to see the painting when police found it. He was called in to give his opinion on its authenticity and knew straight away that it was the missing Leonardo. Subsequently the 10th duke asked him to have the gallery’s conservators inspect it and frame it in an old Italian frame he had recently acquired.

Mr Clarke asked if he could borrow the work and the duke agreed. It will return to Drumlanrig during the brief periods that the home is open to the public.

Madonna of the Yarnwinder now sits serenely above a chest by Giovani Toscani. On its left is a Bernardo Daddi painting, on its right a Jacopo di Cione work. It is a rather more comfortable existence than that endured during the traumatic six-year exile.

The painting was completed in 1501, six years after Leonardo painted The Last Supper and three before he completed Mona Lisa. He died in 1519, aged 67.



Five men accused of demanding £4.25m for stolen da Vinci painting face trial

Five men accused of demanding £4.25 million for the safe return of a Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from the Duke of Buccleuch will face trial next year.

The men are facing charges of trying to extort the money from the late duke, his son and the insurers of the work, known as Madonna with the Yarnwinder.

The artwork was found in Glasgow in 2007 — four years after it was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle, near Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway.

Marshall Ronald, 53, Robert Graham, 57, and John Doyle, 61, of Lancashire, and Callum Jones, 44, of Kilmalcolm, Renfrewshire and David Boyce, 52, of Airdrie, Lanarkshire, were excused attendance during a preliminary hearing today at the High Court in Glasgow.

Judge Lord Kinclaven set a trial for March 1 next year at the High Court in Edinburgh. It is expected that the case may last up to six weeks. There will be another preliminary hearing on November 11.

The painting, which has an estimated value of £30 million, has been in the Duke of Buccleuch’s family for two centuries.



£1m reward for return of stolen Madonna
By Michael Horsnell and Dalya Alberge

A REWARD of up to £1 million was offered by insurers yesterday for the recovery of Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder.
Police believe that the £60 million painting, taken from Drumlanrig Castle, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry’s ancestral home in Scotland, is still in Britain. One theory is that Irish travellers could have been involved in the most valuable art theft carried out in Britain.

More than 30 police officers were at the castle yesterday after Wednesday morning’s theft when two men overpowered a woman guide at the castle in Dumfries and Galloway. Dozens of statements were taken as detectives examined a Volkswagen Golf car in which the suspects escaped.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter McAdam, who is leading the investigation, said: “The car may have been travelling with another vehicle. We need to know about that. It seems likely that the crime was planned so we are also interested to know whether the thieves or their associates stayed in the area recently.”

Mark Dalrymple, the fine art loss adjuster appointed by Lloyd’s Underwriters, said: “We are offering a substantial reward for information leading to the recovery of this painting.”

He declined to put a figure to the reward on offer. “It will depend on the circumstances and the information received. We want the painting back.”

The Duke’s son, Richard, Earl of Dalkeith, said: “There is something of a track record of stolen works of art being recovered.

“It may take weeks, months, years or even decades, but they do come back.”

He said that it was not in the interest of thieves to damage a stolen painting.