Friday, October 22, 2004

Museum people handle a version of Madonna in an AP file photo


story.madonna.ap
Originally uploaded by Art or Idiocy?.

Comparing the AP file photo of two people handling The Madonna, with the more common reproductions, it is obvious we have two different paintings. The odd thing is how The Munch Museum reproduction looks, for all intents and purposes, to be the one that The National Gallery owns. The only differnce is in the photo of the two museum people holding it. So maybe that is the one The Munch Museum owns, and for some reason, the wrong Madonna is on their website. There is just too many contradictory instances where the Madonna of the website is credited to the National Gallery.

Now, how exactly did the August 22nd heist go down? During regular museum hours on Sunday, August 22nd, 2004, two armed gunman, wielding firearms burst in on stunned guards and patrons. One witness said a man in black ran to the Madonna and "grabbed [it] off the wall and then he started banging it against the wall and against the ground because the gray strings weren't breaking off for him. [...] He then sawThe Scream ran towards that and grabbed that off the wall and then he started rushing out the door." The patrons ran out the back.

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