It was the 18th of October 1969, when around 3 p.m. the custodian of the San Lorenzo oratory realized Caravaggio’s Nativity Scene, painted in 1609, had disappeared. Nobody would ever know anything about the painting, ever again. It is one of the most famous art thefts of all-time. The true story, which was never reconstructed, slowly gave way to legend and myth. Throughout the years the most widely believed theory was that the mafia took it, whilst others think the theft was commissioned by a mysterious nobleman to widen his collection. As the years go by, the probability of finding Caravaggio’s work again is more and more meager. Nevertheless, thanks to science and a revolutionary technology a copy is still exhibited at the oratory.
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