The identification of stolen paintings using comparison of various marks.
Several oil paintings, suspected of being stolen, were found in the possession of an art dealer in Tel-Aviv, Israel. The authors were asked to determine if these paintings were the stolen ones, based on photographs, stretchers, and frames submitted by the alleged owners in France. A physical match was found between two of the questioned paintings and two stretchers. Another painting was identified as being previously affixed to the original frame by several nails. The fourth painting was identified as being the one photographed by the alleged owner. This identification was done by comparing micro-topography marks revealed by the illumination conditions of that photograph and of the questioned painting.
Shor
Yaron
Y
Toolmarks and Materials Laboratory, Division of Identification and Forensic Science, Israel National Police Headquarters, Jerusalem. simanim@netvision.net.il
Novoselsky
Yehuda
Y
Klein
Asne
A
Lurie
Doron J
DJ
Levi
Joseph A
JA
Vinokurov
Asya
A
Levin
Nadav
N