1stAngel & Friends

Police in Brazil have recovered an engraving by Pablo Picasso that was stolen from a museum in Sao Paulo.

The Painter and the Model was taken in a daylight robbery in June from the state-owned Estacao Pinacoteca museum.

Police said an arrested suspect had led them to the engraving, wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden in an attic, apparently in perfect condition.

Another Picasso and two paintings by Brazilian artists stolen in the same robbery have not yet been recovered.

The man arrested was held on suspicion of trying to steal a cash machine, but instead led police to the stolen Picasso.

“We were taken by surprise,” Inspector Cesar Carlos Dias told the Associated Press.

“We were keeping an eye on [the suspect] and two other men because we had information they were planning to steal automatic teller machines and rob banks.

“In a tapped phone conversation, the Picasso print was mentioned.”

The man, a 30-year-old Sao Paulo resident, was arrested on charges of robbery, police said.

The two Picasso engravings and the other works stolen in June have a combined estimated value of 1 million Brazilian reals (US$630,000), museum officials have said.

Sao Paulo has a history of art thefts: a painting by Picasso was among two works stolen from the city’s Museum of Art that were recovered in January.

• A rich digital resource of 19th century politics, philosophy and life as seen through the eyes of contemporary journalists
• Free, easily accessible and fully searchable digital version for users based anywhere in the world
• Titles range from an early feminist paper to a radical social reformist broadsheet and satirical illustrated weekly
• Launch event at the British Library on 13 May

Free engravings to give away to every reader, satirical stories about the Royal Family and advice on whether it is correct for a recently widowed husband to marry his sister-in-law: these aren’t press features from today’s newsstands but from papers 150 years ago. All of this material becomes freely accessible as the British Library, Birkbeck College, King’s College London and Olive Software launch a complete digital edition of six 19th Century newspapers and periodicals on 13 May. Selected for their rich variety and originality, the titles offer a fascinating glimpse into 19th century life, and will resonate with students, researchers and the general public interested in subjects ranging from history, theology and politics through to art and feminism. Read more