Italy recovers painting stolen 20 years ago with help of AI
“Italian police recovered a 17th-century painting stolen in 2004 after AI identified it despite alterations, returning the artwork to its church in May 2025 for …”
MMILAN —Italian police have recovered a 17th-century painting stolen from a small church in 2004 with the help of an artificial intelligence system that identified the artwork despite alterations made to conceal its original identity. The painting was stolen from the Virgo Potens Church in Sulmona, near Naples, on August 11, 2004.
It was later altered to disguise its identity, with religious symbols removed or changed to make it appear to be an ordinary portrait of a young woman. The AI system identified similarities in the painting’s colours, patterns and composition, even though its original religious features, including a white lamb, a halo and a palm branch, had been altered or erased.
The breakthrough came in October 2024 during an annual antiques fair in Parma, Italy, where police officers were photographing artworks and adding them to their database. Within hours, the AI system flagged a suspicious painting depicting a young woman holding a sheet of paper.
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Further investigation established that the artwork was actually a painting of Saint Agnes that had been stolen from the church two decades earlier. The thieves had modified the original image to conceal its religious identity.
Italian police began developing an artificial intelligence-based system in 2020 to identify stolen artworks. The system, known as the Stolen Works of Art Detection System (SWOADS), was introduced in November 2023.
Since its launch, the system has helped recover more than 300 major stolen artworks and sculptures, along with over 165,000 other items, including coins, medals, letters, manuscripts, religious objects, stamps and cards., the recovered items have a combined value exceeding 203 million euros.
The system also continuously scans images available on the internet, online auction houses and commercial websites to identify potentially stolen objects. Experts say artificial intelligence has become an effective tool in tracing stolen artworks, although it cannot replace human investigations and legal cooperation.
Poor-quality images, replicas and three-dimensional objects remain challenges for the technology. Due to the passage of more than two decades, legal proceedings over the theft of the painting are no longer possible. However, the artwork was returned to the church on May 20, 2025.
It is expected to be restored before being displayed again in its original location.
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