A heist from an historic Indian
jewelry show at the Doge's Palace in Venice Wednesday was a
professional job and the thieves were probably working to order,
the lagoon city's police chief said Thursday.
Vito Gagliardi said the glass case at the Treasures of the
Mughals and Maharajahs show was opened without forcing it and
the alarm rang too late to catch the thieves, who were already
melting among the crowds on St Mark's Square.
He said the golden brooch and earrings were worth between two
and three million euros - but very hard to offload on the black
market because they are so well known.
Gagliardi therefore said he thought the gems in the jewelry
will be removed and sold separately.
The exhibit, on show in the Sala dello Scrutinio, closed on
schedule last night.
It brought together, for the first time in Italy, 270 Indian
gems and jewels from the 16th to the twentieth centuries,
belonging to the Al Thani collection.
The Doge's Palace, Palazzo Ducale, housed Venetian rulers for
over a thousand years until Napoleon did away with the
Serenissima Republic.
Gagliardi said experts from Rome had immediately been called.
"It is indispensable to understand what didn't work properly
in the security systems," he said.
"The glass case was opened up as it if were a tin can while
the alarm, if it worked at all, went off late," Gagliardi told
reporters.
Photos of the stolen items have already been sent to London,
where their owners are, so that they can be identified and
priced.
According to CCTV footage, two people broke into the case,
one covering the other who actually opened it and pocketed the
jewels, police told reporters.
They were "minor works compared to the great body of the
exhibition," experts said.
The show made Venice the first city in Italy to host the
renowned exhibition of Indian gems and jewels from the Al Thani
Collection.
"Dazzling gems, precious stones and jewels brimming with
centuries of history and legend, together with historic and
contemporary creations take us on a journey through five
centuries of sheer beauty and remarkable craftsmanship charting
the glorious tradition of Indian jewellery: from the descendants
of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane to the great Maharajas, whose
lavish jewellery commissions in the 20th century produced
stunning and innovative works from the European jewellery
houses," Palazzo Ducale's website said.
The collection was assembled by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al
Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family.
The curators of the exhibition were Amin Jaffer, Senior
Curator of The Al Thani Collection, and distinguished Italian
scholar of East Asian art Gian Carlo Calza.
Gabriella Belli was academic director.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA