Gustav Klimt's Portrait of a Lady was reported stolen from the Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi in Piacenza on February 22, 1997, shortly before a planned special exhibition and during building renovations. The case was unusually tangled from the outset: the frame was found on the roof near a skylight that appeared too small for the canvas, and later theories suggested the theft may have concealed an earlier substitution with a forgery. The painting mattered beyond its market value because X-ray analysis had recently revealed it to be a repainted version of a lost Klimt portrait, making it an exceptional 'double' work. In December 2019, gardeners found a bagged painting hidden in an exterior wall cavity; experts confirmed it as the missing Klimt in January 2020.
The theft and recovery made Portrait of a Lady one of the most discussed late Klimt works and a landmark modern art-crime case.
