Police have arrested a man over the theft of an artwork by Impressionist artist Edgar Degas from a museum in Marseilles. The painting was stolen overnight from the Cantini Museum.
Edgar Degas – Les Choristes (The Chorus Singers)
The painting, titled Les Choristes (The Chorus), shows a group of male singers performing on stage, France’s national museum service valued the pastel artwork at Euro 800,000. It was missing when staff arrived on Thursday morning at the Cantini Museum in the southern port city of Marseille, Jacques Dallest, a public prosecutor, said.
The picture measures 13 inches by 10. Mr Dallest said it had been unscrewed from the wall. The show was due to close on Sunday before touring to Italy and Canada. The Chorus, which dates from 1877, is a small work in bright pastels portraying a row of male choir singers on stage.
“As far as I know there was no break-in,” he said, adding that investigators suspected an intruder, a visitor to the exhibition or an inside job. The museum was closed on Thursday.
