Agencia Brasil

Rio de Janeiro – The Federal Police found this Thursday (2) burned residues of paintings and frames, in Morro dos Prazeres, an area nearby the Chácara do Céu Museum, from where paintings by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, and Salvador Dali were stolen last Friday (Feb/24).

According to the sheriff in charge, Deuler Rocha, a preliminary procedure identified one of the frames as that of Picasso’s painting "The Dance".

The material will be analyzed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN).

Deuler Rocha said that according to IPHAN, Matisse’s "The Luxembourg Garden" was up for sale in a virtual auction site in Russia, where it stayed for three hours.

"The Interpol was contacted and may already be investigating this information", said Rocha. He said that the police works with three possibilities: first, that the objects may have been destroyed; second, that they may be in Brazil; third, that they may already have been taken out of the country.

Translation: Andréa Alves