Stolen Van Dyck

In London last week the public went to see a momentous collection of Italian Renaissance paintings at Old Burlington House (TIME, Dec. 23). Notables had already swarmed through the galleries, among them the Philip Snowdens, Mrs. Winston Churchill, the Austen Chamberlains (she sponsored the show), the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Wellington, Margot Asquith. Mayfair booksellers announced an unprecedented sale of Italian art books. At this commercially auspicious moment, Art Dealer Godfrey Phillips of London ordered sent from Belgium a canvas by Sir Anthony Van Dyck which he intended to buy for $100,000. The picture, called Concert des Anges, shows a life-size Madonna and Child surrounded by buxom angels. When the packing case arrived in London the express company told Dealer Phillips that the box had arrived in damaged condition. Said he: "Never mind about the case; is the picture all right?"

"There isn't a picture," was the reply.

Dealer Phillips hurried to the express office, found in the case a big gilt frame with ragged edges of canvas where the painting had been torn out. There was no clue as to the time or place of the theft. Dealer Phillips said he believed it the work of a "novice or an expert in a great hurry."

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