Ashes probed amid fears stolen art was burnt

By Saskya Vandoorne, Laura Smith-Spark and Liliana Ciobanu, CNNJuly 19, 2013 -- Updated 2128 GMT (0528 HKT)/*var clickExpire="-1";var playerOverRide={headline:"Did woman burn Monet, Picasso paintings?",images:[{image:{height:"360",width:"640",text:"http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130719164110-stolen-art-feared-burned-story-top.jpg"}}]};*/window.jQuery(document).ready(function() {window.CNNVIDEOS = window.CNNVIDEOS || {};CNNVIDEOS[ 'T1' ] = CNNVIDEO( 'cnnCVP1', {video: 'world/2013/07/19/intl-stolen-art-feared-burned-shubert-pkg.cnn',thumb: 'http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130719164110-stolen-art-feared-burned-story-top.jpg',preset: 'storypage',diagnostics: {section: 'articlepage',placement: 'page-top'},network: 'cnn',adsection: cnnCVPAdSectionT1 || '',headline: 'Did woman burn Monet, Picasso paintings?',videoSource: 'CNN',videoSourceUrl: 'http://edition.cnn.com/',url: ''});// pause other videos playing on pagewindow.jQuery( '#cnnCVP1' ).on( 'onContentBegin', function( e, obj ) {for ( var instance in window.CNNVIDEOS ) {if ( instance !== 'T1' && window.CNNVIDEOS.hasOwnProperty( instance ) ) {try { window.CNNVIDEOS[ instance ].pause(); } catch(e){}}}});});/*var cnnWindowParams=window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video!="undefined"){if(cnnWindowParams.video){cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2013/07/19/intl-stolen-art-feared-burned-shubert-pkg.cnn','cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art' ,playerOverRide,T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick=function(){if ($$('.box-opened').length){$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val,'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2013/07/19/intl-stolen-art-feared-burned-shubert-pkg.cnn','cnnCVP1','640x384_start_art',playerOverRide,T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout=function(){$('cnnCVP2').className='cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}*/Experts analyze ashes found in a stove to see if they are the remains of stolen artworkWorks by Matisse, Picasso and Monet were among paintings taken from a Dutch museumSix people have been charged in Romania in connection with the theft last yearThere are traces of pigments in the ashes from the stove of one of those charged, official says

(CNN) -- Ashes found in the stove of a Romanian home have become the focus of investigations into the theft of seven valuable paintings by artists including Picasso, Matisse and Monet -- amid fears they may have gone up in smoke.

Experts from Romania's National History Museum have been analyzing the ashes for traces of paint and other chemicals that would confirm whether the works stolen last year from a Dutch museum have been destroyed.

The ashes come from the stove of one of the people indicted in the case, Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, general director of Romania's National History Museum said Thursday.

if (typeof cnnArticleGallery == "undefined") {var cnnArticleGallery = {};}if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList =="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList = [];}var expGallery41=new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGallery41.setImageCount(9);//cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("Notorious art heists", 1); Seven famous paintings were stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 2012, including Claude Monet's "Charing Cross Bridge, London." The paintings, in oil and watercolor, include Pablo Picasso's "Harlequin Head," Henri Matisse's "Reading Girl in White and Yellow," Claude Monet's "Waterloo Bridge," and "Woman with Eyes Closed" by Lucian Freud. Works by Gauguin and Meyer de Haan were also taken. Fine art paintings have a long history of being targeted by criminals.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":1,"title":"Notorious art heists"} Eight months after Salvador Dali's "Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio" was stolen in a New York gallery, a Greek national was indicted on a grand larceny charge.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":2,"title":"Notorious art heists"} In 1473, Hans Memling's "The Last Judgment" was stolen by pirates and became the first documented art theft.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":3,"title":"Notorious art heists"} Adam Worth, the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's diabolical character Moriarty, stole "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," painted by Thomas Gainsborough in 1876.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":4,"title":"Notorious art heists"} In 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the Louvre by an Italian who had been a handyman for the museum.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":5,"title":"Notorious art heists"} Among their many crimes, the Nazis plundered precious artworks as they gained power during World War II. "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was confiscated from the owner, the widower of the painting's subject, when he fled from Austria.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":6,"title":"Notorious art heists"} Many works of art that were taken by the Nazis were never recovered or were only returned after years of legal battles. "Christ Carrying the Cross" by Italian artist Girolamo de' Romani was returned to his family in 2012.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":7,"title":"Notorious art heists"} "The Scream" was one of two Edvard Munch paintings that were stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, in 2004.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":8,"title":"Notorious art heists"} In 2007, Pablo Picasso's oil painting, ''Portrait of Suzanne Bloch," was taken from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art but was recovered two years later.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":1,"pos":9,"title":"Notorious art heists"} Photos: Notorious art heists if (typeof cnnArticleGallery == "undefined") {var cnnArticleGallery = {};}if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList =="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList = [];}var expGallery42=new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGallery42.setImageCount(12);//cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("The search for stolen masterpieces", 1); On March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 priceless works of art. Twelve of the 13 pieces stolen are included in this gallery. Here you see one of five "Gouache" drawings by Edgar Degas.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":true,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":1,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} Upon entering, the intruders handcuffed the security guards, bound them with duct tape and left them in the basement, authorities said at the time. Pictured here is another of Degas' "Gouache" drawings.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":2,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} In less than 90 minutes, the bandits went through the museum's Dutch Room on the second floor and stole three Rembrandts, including the Dutch artist's only seascape, "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," along with Vermeer's "The Concert," five Degas drawings and other items, according to the museum's website. Pictured here: a third of Degas' "Gouache" drawings.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":3,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} Pictured here: a fourth of Degas' "Gouache" drawings.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":4,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} The fifth of Degas' "Gouache" drawings.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":5,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} "Landscape with an Obelisk" by Govaert FlinckcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":6,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} Finial in the form of an eagle, gilt metal (bronze), FrenchcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":7,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} "A Lady and Gentleman in Black" by RembrandtcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":8,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} "Self-Portrait" by RembrandtcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":9,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee," the only seasscape painted by Rembrandt.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":10,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} "The Concert" by VermeercnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":11,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} Chinese bronze beaker or Ku, A Chinese, Shang Dynasty, 1200-1100 B.C.ancient bronze beaker.cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length] = {"currentPicture":false,"x":4,"y":2,"pos":12,"title":"The search for stolen masterpieces"} The search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpiecesThe search for stolen masterpieces The search for stolen masterpieces var currExpandable="expand34";if(typeof CNN.expandableMap==='object'){CNN.expandableMap.push(currExpandable);}var mObj={};mObj.type='video';mObj.contentId='';mObj.source='crime/2011/07/07/ca.picasso.stolen.surveillance.cnn';mObj.videoSource='CNN';mObj.videoSourceUrl='http://cnn.com/';mObj.lgImage="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130321134248-ca-picasso-stolen-surveillance-cms2-story-body.jpg";mObj.lgImageX=300;mObj.lgImageY=169;mObj.origImageX="214";mObj.origImageY="120";mObj.contentType='video';CNN.expElements.expand34Store=mObj;"Works of art and paintings have been burned and there are traces of typical red, yellow and green pigments," he told CNN affiliate ProTV.

But it's not yet confirmed whether these traces are all that remains of the stolen artwork.

Six people have been charged by the Romanian public prosecutor's office in connection with the theft from the Kunsthal museum in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on the night of October 15 last year.

Three men, Radu Dogaru, Darie Eugen and Adrian Procop, are charged with robbery counts.

A woman, Olga Dogaru, is accused of complicity in the crime by transporting and hiding the stolen artwork, the prosecutor's office said.

Two other defendants are accused of helping the alleged thieves by trying to value or sell the paintings.

The paintings, in oil and watercolor, include Pablo Picasso's "Harlequin Head," Henri Matisse's "Reading Girl in White and Yellow," Claude Monet's Waterloo Bridge" and "Charing Cross Bridge," and "Woman with Eyes Closed" by Lucian Freud. Works by Gauguin and Meyer de Haan were also taken.

The loss resulting from the theft is estimated at €18 million, the prosecutor's office said.

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