A Canal in Venice by Martín Rico

This is Martín Rico's "A Canal in Venice," painted in 1875. The Spanish artist loved working outdoors, and this quiet side canal captures a serene moment in the city, far from the busy Grand Canal. The painting itself, however, had a far from serene recent history. In 2011, it was stolen from a private home in Madrid.

Look first at the warm, layered facade of the main palazzo and then let your eye drop to the water. Rico paints the reflection with a noticeably looser touch than the building above it. The upside-down city shimmers in broken strokes of green and pink, a passage of pure painterly observation that rewards a close look.

Martín Rico moved from Spain to Paris and finally to Venice, where he became one of the most internationally recognized Spanish painters of his era. His dedication to painting en plein air gave his cityscapes their characteristic light and atmosphere. This painting remained in private hands until that night in June 2011, when thieves broke into a Madrid apartment and made off with it alongside works by Picasso, Botero, and others.

The canvas was missing for three years. When Spanish authorities recovered it in 2014 during a broader operation targeting an organized theft ring, the painting was found intact. The quiet afternoon Rico had set down in oil nearly 140 years earlier was still there, undisturbed.