Italian police recently seized a batch of forged artworks, which were being passed off as genuine works by famous artists such as Picasso and Rembrandt. Authorities stated that these forgeries originated from a "secret painting studio."
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02-24, 2025The investigation was led by the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office. The investigation was triggered by authorities tracking fraudulent artworks being sold online. A press release issued by the police revealed that they discovered suspicious sales activities on online platforms.
Police stated that a total of 71 paintings were seized, and pointed out that the suspect had sold "hundreds of works with questionable authenticity" on websites such as eBay and Catawiki. These works included forgeries purporting to be by masters such as Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, as well as fakes claiming to be by other famous artists such as Mario Puccini, Giacomo Balla, and Afro Basaldella.
Police located the workshop where these paintings were made in a house in a neighborhood north of Rome. They found a room dedicated to the production of fake paintings. Police seized hundreds of tubes of paint, brushes, easels, as well as forged gallery stamps and artist signatures. The suspect, described by authorities as a "forger and restorer," even possessed typewriters and computer equipment used to create paintings and forge certificates of authenticity for fraudulent works.
Police said that one of the strategies used by the suspect was to collage auction catalogs, replacing the images of the painter's original works with images of his fake artworks. This would give the false impression that the fake painting had always been genuine. Police also found various works in progress on the forger's desk, bearing the signatures of different artists—leading them to believe that the suspect had recently created these works. No arrests have been made yet, and authorities have not disclosed the suspect's name.
This is not the first time Italian authorities have seized forged artworks. The Carabinieri Art Squad, established in 1969, specializes in combating crimes related to art and culture. In 2023, they recovered thousands of artifacts stolen from tombs and archaeological digs.
