One month after the theft of 13 works by Henri Matisse and Cândido Portinari from the Biblioteca Mário de Andrade in downtown São Paulo, Brazilian authorities have made progress within the felony investigation, even because the stolen works stay lacking.
The primary arrest got here at some point after the 7 December theft, when the police in São Paulo apprehended a suspect after monitoring his actions; he stays in custody because the investigation continues. A second suspect was briefly detained on 18 December on suspicion of involvement; police consider he didn’t immediately take part within the crime however was seen with the thieves shortly after.
A 3rd arrest got here on 19 December, when police detained a girl believed to have helped the heist by hiding the works instantly after the theft. Police verify she is married to the one suspect who stays at giant, a person named Gabriel Pereira Rodrigues de Mello, who is understood by the nicknames “Gargamel” and “Capybara”.
Mello had earlier convictions for theft and aggravated theft dismissed by the São Paulo courts early final 12 months. His convictions have been lifted as a part of a legislation that grants an automated pardon to convicts who meet some necessities, like time served and good behaviour.
One of many convictions that was overturned occurred a decade in the past in São Paulo, when Mello and one other man pretended to hold firearms and carjacked a luxurious automobile. One other incident occurred in 2022, when Mello impersonated a financial institution worker and took an envelope containing 300 reais ($55) from an aged buyer. Mello beforehand had an in depth felony historical past principally associated to robberies.
The theft of the Matisse and Portinari works occurred on a Sunday morning whereas the library was open to the general public. Two armed males entered the gallery and subdued a safety guard and an aged couple who have been visiting the exhibition.
The robbers eliminated eight engravings by Matisse and 5 prints by Portinari from a glass show case and positioned them in a canvas bag. Surveillance footage reveals the duo exiting by means of the library’s fundamental entrance, strolling towards the Anhangabaú Metro station and getting right into a getaway van that was later seized by police.
Within the theft’s aftermath, the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, said that Interpol had been notified to stop the works from leaving the nation. The authorities consider the theft was fastidiously deliberate and that particular items have been chosen on the market within the black market. Legislation enforcement brokers are additionally collaborating on restoration efforts with the Brazilian Institute of Museums, the Nationwide Institute of Historic and Creative Heritage and the Brazilian Affiliation of Artwork Galleries.
The stolen works have been a part of an exhibition held in collaboration with the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP). It’s estimated that the works have been valued between 700,000 to 1m reais ($130,000-$180,000). Jose Antonio Totó Parente, the secretary of tradition and the inventive economic system for São Paulo, said that the items “have cultural, historic and creative worth, and due to this fact can’t be assessed solely in financial phrases”.
The secretariat confirmed that the works have been insured, however the theft has sparked conversations in Brazil in regards to the safety of public cultural establishments, notably exhibitions held exterior of museums or different secured areas.
