海角大神

Two paintings by Vincent Van Gogh have returned to Amsterdam鈥檚 Van Gogh Museum, more than fourteen years after they were stolen by thieves who broke into the museum and spirited them away for sale to an Italian mobster.

The Dutch master's "Seascape at Scheveningen," and "Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen," painted in 1882 and 1884-85, respectively, were recovered in September by Italian police in a hidden wall space in a villa that prosecutors say belonged to Raffaele Imperiale, who is accused of running an international cocaine trafficking ring.

The paintings' return was one of the "most special days in the history of our museum," museum director Axel Rueger said on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

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鈥淪eascape at Scheveningen,鈥� whose paint contains sand that blew onto the canvas as the artist worked during a summer storm on the beach, depicts a small ship in the midst of breaking waves, with dark storm clouds overhead. It is the museum鈥檚 only work from Mr. Van Gogh鈥檚 period of study in The Hague.

鈥淐ongregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen鈥澨齭hows a church in the southern province of Brabant, where Van Gogh鈥檚 father was a minister, , and听was made for Van Gogh鈥檚 mother, who was confined to her bed with a broken leg. Upon his father鈥檚 death, the painter added black-clad figures of mourning.

Both paintings, which have suffered relatively minor damage since the 2002 heist,听will go back on display at the museum until mid-May, after which they will be removed to the museum's conservation studio for repair.

The paintings' return is accompanied by a Dutch television documentary about the heist. Octave Durham, one of the two men who carried out the theft, for which he later served just over 25 months in prison, bragging of his swift entry and exit from the museum 鈥撎齣ncluding a jarring descent from a rope on the way out that chipped paint on the seascape鈥檚 bottom left corner 鈥撎齛nd subsequent sale, for about $380,000, to Mr. Imperiale, who was selling marijuana in an Amsterdam coffee shop, according to the New York Times.

As 海角大神鈥檚 Ellen Powell noted in September, authorities believe the paintings were purchased by Imperiale as part of an effort to sink profits from drug trafficking into assets. Police have seized some 20 million euros ($22 million) from Imperiale, who is believed to be living in Dubai. In January, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and Italian authorities are seeking his extradition.

Investigators were led to the paintings by an alleged fellow member of the trafficking ring, who was arrested along with 10 others last January. But their initial break came from an August 2016 letter to the Naples public prosecutor from Imperiale himself, who admitted that he was in possession of the paintings.听

The precise value fetched by the two paintings is largely a matter of guesswork, as neither have been put up on art markets, but Italian police estimate it at about 50 million euros ($53.97 million) each.听

This report includes material from the Associated Press and Reuters.