Oh good, you’re here, and just in time. Do take a seat and I’ll pour us some tea. To paraphrase a literary icon, this could very well be a two-cup case. Today’s tale takes us to Scotland and the theft of a Da Vinci painting worth £37mn. This is a plot that could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood film.
Drumlanrig Castle sits on the Queensberry Estate in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. It was built in the 17th century and is home to part of the famous Buccleuch Art Collection, consisting of 500 paintings, 1000 miniatures and an enormous collection of object d’art. It is perhaps best known for being the filming location of the popular Outlander TV series.
However, Drumlanrig Castle was made famous for a whole other reason when in August 2003 it was the subject of an audacious art heist. So much so, it could be described as not out of place in The Thomas Crown Affair.
The theft targeted Da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder
On the morning of 27 August 2003, two men walked into the castle to take a tour. However, these two men were not there to take in the history and beauty of the castle; they had more nefarious intentions. Posing as tourists, their aim was the theft of the Leonardo da Vinci painting Madonna of the Yarnwinder, also known as the Buccleuch Madonna.
The painting was, at the time of its theft, considered one of the most valuable paintings in Britain, valued at around £37mn and was the centrepiece of the 9th Duke of Buccleuch’s art collection, hanging in the castle for some 200 years. It is one of only 12 paintings in the world to be authenticated as having been painted by Da Vinci and considered to be his most complex work.
The men had been waiting for the castle doors to open since early in the morning and, rather than take the tour, headed straight for the staircase where the prized treasure was hanging.
The thieves kept their cool and made off with the Madonna
After waiting for the tour party to move on, and in full view of the many CCTV cameras in the castle, the men overpowered a young female tour guide, one holding her at knife point, the other brandishing an axe to ensure no one would intervene, as they removed the artwork from its mountings and protective case.
Their exit was nearly hampered by two New Zealand tourists who saw them carrying the painting. However, keeping a cool head, they told them: “Don’t worry, love, we are the police,” before heading out of a window and making off. Caught up in the excitement, numerous passersby took photos of the two men as they brazenly waltzed out with the masterpiece.
The thieves escaped leaving only the frame behind
Despite the police search and the CCTV footage, the two thieves remained at large, although their getaway vehicle was found abandoned nearby shortly after. The painting had been removed from the frame which was found just outside the castle gates. An international investigation ensued; Interpol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were on alert.
However, no trace of the thieves or the painting could be found. The police released a statement saying that they believed the painting might have been stolen to pay off drug debts or that it had been stolen to order. The two men were described as being in their 40s.
The thieves had managed to disappear into thin air, evading the police roadblocks and the helicopter searching the estate and surrounding areas. Also, where was the painting? After all, it was too hot to sell on the open market.
The Madonna recovered: the lady is coming
The investigation was closed by police in 2005 when the trail went cold. It remained that way until 2007, when a lawyer, Marshall Ronald, contacted the duke’s insurers claiming he could arrange for the recovery of the painting within 72 hours. Two undercover police officers visited Ronald, one posing as an art expert and the other posing as the duke’s agent.
After this meeting, the painting was transferred to the offices of HBJ Gateley Wareing in Glasgow. Ronald sent the undercover police officer a simple message that read: “The lady is coming.”
On the evening of 4 October 2007, the police mounted a raid on Wareing’s office and five men were arrested. In a cruel twist of fate, the duke, a keen fine-art collector, had died aged 83 a month before the painting’s recovery, so he never saw his beloved lady again.
Courtroom drama, extortion and betrayal but no convictions
The five men arrested were charged with conspiracy to extort to the tune of £4.25mn. Their case was brought before the High Court in Edinburgh in 2010. The prosecution alleged that the men had repeatedly refused to alert police to the fact that they knew how to recover the stolen painting and instead had engaged in an elaborate extortion attempt, going as far as to claim that volatile unnamed individuals would destroy the priceless Da Vinci should their demands not be met.
Countering this, the defence argued that undercover police officers had conned the men and that they were acting in good faith, simply trying to broker the safe recovery of the artwork for what they saw as a fair reward. During the trial, it came out that Ronald had stolen £350,000 from his clients to buy the painting from what he claimed was a shadowy gang working in the Liverpool underworld.
Ronald described his recovery of the painting as a personal crusade, which was little comfort to the clients he had stolen the money from. This confession would see his company closed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and he was subsequently struck off.
Three of the men, who included the lawyer who had contacted the duke, had their case found not proven. The other two were found not guilty. The painting had been recovered, but the saga was far from over.
The final twist – more surprising court cases
In 2013, Ronald sued the 10th Duke of Buccleuch and the chief of Dumfries Police for the sum of £4.25mn. Ronald claimed that under the terms of an alleged contract between him and an undercover officer, known as John Craig, it was agreed that he would arrange for the return of the painting for a sum of £4.25mn.
Ronald dropped the claim against the police but continued to pursue the duke for what he felt was his rightful reward for facilitating the return of such a valuable piece of artwork. He argued that the duke had agreed to pay this sum in a signed contract.
However, the court heard that the undercover officer had not acted under the order of the duke, and the duke was unaware of any agreed reward. After two years of civil proceedings, the suit was settled in the duke’s favour and the case was dismissed. The painting has been on loan to the Scottish National Gallery since 2009. To this day, the two art thieves have never been caught, and their identities remain a mystery.
And so dear reader, we come to the end of our tale. Perhaps one day the mystery of our brazen thieves will be uncovered, or perhaps it will remain unsolved. Only time will tell, but for now, what do you say to another cup of tea?
