[MSN] Russia to try man over theft of Hermitage artworks.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Russia to try man over theft of Hermitage artworks
Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:54 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian is to stand trial on charges he stole art
objects from the Hermitage with his late wife, a curator at the world-famous
museum.

In August, Nikolai Zavadsky's lawyer quoted him as saying he had stolen the
artifacts because he needed money to buy insulin for his diabetic wife.

She died suddenly at the start of an inventory that revealed $5 million
worth of art items in her charge were missing from the museum in Russia's
second city of St Petersburg.

Zavadsky is accused over the theft of 77 objects from the museum's
department of Russian cultural history, a statement on the Russian
Prosecutor-General's Web site said on Thursday.

It gave no date for the start of the trial.

The artifacts, stolen over several years, are some of more than 200 silver
and enamel pieces missing from the Hermitage, home to a huge collection
including works by Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet.

The thefts exposed years of under-funding and neglect at Russia's museums,
where staff are paid paltry wages and there is no cash for adequate
security.

http://today.reuters.com/