Italian police have used artificial intelligence to recover a painting that was stolen from a church 20 years ago. The thieves had painted over parts of the artwork to make it harder to identify.
The 17th-century painting shows Saint Agnese and stands about 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall. It was taken from the small church of Virgo Potens in Sulmona on the night of August 11, 2004.
How AI Found the Stolen Painting
In October 2024, officers from Italy’s Carabinieri unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage visited an antiques fair in Parma. They took photos of artworks and uploaded them to an internal database.
A few hours later, the system flagged a painting of a young woman holding a parchment scroll. Officers seized the painting the next day.
Investigators found the work had been altered. A lamb had been painted into a scroll, and the saint’s halo and palm branch had been removed.
“There was something off,” said Lt Col Salvatore Rapicavoli of the cultural heritage unit. A keyword search for “woman with a scroll” would not have found the original record.
The AI tool is called the Stolen Works of Art Detection System, or Swoads. Rapicavoli’s team designed it in 2020, and it was introduced in November 2023.
The system matches colors, shapes, and layouts between images. It can also spot pieces of artworks that were cut apart or changed after a theft.
Swoads also scans websites, social media, and the dark web around the clock. It compares new images with Italy’s stolen art database, which holds over one million items dating back to 1969.
Results and Limits
Since November 2023, the system has helped recover more than 300 large paintings and statues. It also helped recover more than 165,000 smaller items such as coins, letters, and manuscripts, worth over €203 million ($226 million) in total.
In 2026, police in Turin used the tool to recover a Filippo Palizzi painting stolen from a modern art gallery in June 1972. The software found it listed on an auction house website.
Experts say the technology has limits. Carina Popovici, co-founder of Art Recognition, said AI cannot catch thieves or flag items that were never reported.
Timothy Carpenter, former head of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, said police need large teams to follow up on AI leads. Italy has about 300 people in its art crime unit, while the FBI’s team peaked at 24.
The system also struggles with 3D objects photographed from different angles. Carpenter added that criminals can use AI tools to alter images or create fake ownership records.
No one will be charged in the Saint Agnese case because the theft happened too long ago to prosecute under Italian law. The painting was returned to the church on May 20, 2025, where it will be restored.
Rapicavoli’s team plans to add watchlist data, such as Ukrainian manuscripts and icons at risk of looting. The team is also working toward an international art identification network by 2027.
