Thieves steal 150kg Dalí bronze book cover from French museum
Thieves hauled a 150kg bronze cover made by Salvador Dalí out of a museum in central France overnight.
The theft happened during the night of Sunday, Oct 4 to Monday, Oct 5, at the Karoutzos site in Issoire, according to Le Monde. Prosecutors confirmed on Monday, Oct 5 that the work had been taken. No arrests have been reported.
What was stolen is the cover for L'Apocalypse de Saint Jean, or the Book of the Apocalypse, as identified by France 3. The cover is made of bronze and weighs 150kg (330lb), The Telegraph reported. The complete book, with its pages and binding, is reported to weigh more than 200 kilos.
Dalí made the cover in the late 1950s. The book itself was published in 1961 and carries his signature. It is a large-format religious text, the New Testament Book of Revelation illustrated in Dalí's style, produced as a luxury edition rather than a mass-market book.
The target was the Contemporary Art Centre in Issoire, a private museum in Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne region. Issoire sits south of Clermont-Ferrand in central France. The centre is housed at a site known locally as Karoutzos.
Police and prosecutors have not said how the thieves entered or how they moved the piece. The investigation is continuing.
What makes this stand out is the sheer weight. At 150kg for the cover alone, it could not be slipped into a bag. Whoever took it needed planning, help and a vehicle.
