A Leonardo da Vinci painting, Madonna with the Yarnwinder, has been stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland, police said.
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Da Vinci's Madonna with
the Yarnwinder |
The castle is home to one of Scotland's richest landowners and contains one of the finest art collections in the UK.
The estate, in Dumfries and Galloway, is owned by the Duke of Buccleuch and houses masterpieces by da Vinci, Rembrandt and Holbein, among others. The painting was stolen at about 11 a.m., police said.
The original painting was once thought to have been lost in France, but experts have since said that the figures of the Madonna and child and the foreground rocks were da Vinci's own work.
The work has been dated at 1501 as a letter from April of that year mentions that the artist was working on Madonna of the Yarnwinder.
The creation was intended for Florimond Robertet, Secretary to the King of France at the time, and shows the child holding the yarnwinder, shaped like a cross, said to symbolise the Passion and future death of Christ.
In an annual round-up of the UK's 300 richest people published recently, the Duke of Buccleuch was ranked at 53, thanks to his £405 million art collection and 253,000 acres of land.
Drumlanrig Castle's art collection, which was built up by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, is on display much of the year.
The stolen painting is the pride of the family collection and hangs in the hall at the castle.
Visitors can view many of the works of the collection in a tour of the principal rooms.
Drumlanrig Castle was built between 1679 and 1691, on the site of a 14th century estate visited by King James VI. It has also played host to Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Drumlanrig and the Queensberry title passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810 on the death of the 4th Duke of Queensberry.
Today the castle is supported by extensive estates and income from farming and forestry.
PA