Caravaggio, Taking of Christ or Kiss of Judas

ODESSA, UKRAINE.- Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ, or the Kiss of Judas was stolen from the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the Black Sea port of Odessa. Museum staff found that the work was missing from its frame. The thieves cut it from its frame. The museum was closed on the previous day, so the thieves could have stolen it from Tuesday evening.

According to police, the thieves entered the museum through a window and bypassed the alarm system by removing a window pane instead of breaking it. After taking the work from its frame, the thieves fled through the roof.

Vitaly Abramov, deputy head of the Odessa Art Museum, said, “This is a cultural catastrophe, a national tragedy. There is so little of art of such level in the former Soviet Union. You cannot put a price on this and I am not talking about money here. It is, in every sense, priceless.”

Lyudmila Saulenko, the museum’s deputy director stated, "We came in here to find that the wind was blowing the blinds around through a window with no pane." Lyudmila Saulenko, the museum's deputy director told reporters.

KIEV - Un tableau du Caravage, qui pourrait valoir jusqu'à 100 millions de dollars (64 millions d'euros), a été volé d'un musée de la ville portuaire d'Odessa, en Ukraine.

Les employés du musée ont déclaré avoir demandé aux autorités à plusieurs reprises d'améliorer le dispositif de sécurité. Selon la police, les voleurs se seraient joués d'une alarme en pénétrant par une fenêtre.

"Le Baiser de Judas", peint pas l'Italien Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, dit le Caravage, a été porté disparu jeudi matin.

Certains spécialistes estiment que le tableau, qui date du XVIe siècle, pourrait valoir 100 millions de dollars. Il s'agit de la seule toile de cet artiste exposée en Ukraine. AP