Six paintings stolen from former Medemblik town hall dropped off at art detective's home

The six paintings stolen from the former town hall of Medemblik early in September have been returned. Someone dropped them off at Arthur Brand’s home out of the blue on Friday, the art detective told De Telegraaf.

During the early hours of September 1, someone broke into the former town hall, where the artworks were exhibited, and stole six paintings, a barometer, and a chandelier. The works of art are worth around 100,000 euros. The most special painting is a portrait of the Frisian king Radboud, which is at least 360 years old and the oldest known portrait of the king.

On Friday evening, Brand’s doorbell rang. “There was a man with a van. Would I like to help him unload? When I asked what we would unload, he replied with a smile: ‘The paintings from Medemblik,’” Brand told De Telegraaf.

“All he would say is that he wasn’t involved in the theft but had come into possession of the works,” Brand said. “What is striking: no appeal was made to the 10,000 euros reward offered by the municipality.”

The man only returned the paintings, not the chandelier or barometer. Brand informed the police.

I recovered the 6 paintings that were stolen last month from the town hall of Medemblik, the Netherlands, Historically very important paintings. Especially the one showing King Radbod, the last ruler of Frisia. The oldest portrait known of him. And one of 'William of Orange.' pic.twitter.com/jNbXTSXIRA — Arthur Brand (art detective) (@brand_arthur) October 17, 2023

The art detective believes the sudden return has to do with the news headlines about his recovery of a Van Gogh painting that had been stolen from the Singer Museum in Laren in 2020. The thieves probably realized the works were unsellable and knew how to return them thanks to the media attention the Van Gogh case got, he told the newspaper.

Medemblik alderman Jeroen Broeders is delighted about the stolen works’ return. “You only know how important possessions are when you no longer have them,” he told the newspaper. “Radboud’s painting, in particular, is so important for Medemblik. In retrospect, we were not careful with security. We will do that differently now.”