US museum returns stolen painting to Mexico

MEXICO CITY - A valuable religious painting that was ripped from a Mexican church wall by thieves and later sold to California's San Diego Museum of Art is on its way back home, authorities said today.

Five years ago, the museum bought the damaged painting called 'Adam and Eve Cast Out of Paradise' for US$45,000 ($71,157.49) from a private art collector and restored it to its original condition before realising it was stolen.

Today, museum officials handed over the painting, which is believed to have been used by missionaries to convert indigenous Indians to Christianity, to Mexican authorities who will ship the work of art to Mexico City.

The painting is expected eventually to be rehung in the church in the town of Zempoala in Hidalgo state, where it was stolen in 2000. The artist who painted it is unknown.

"Like all who appreciate art, I look forward to viewing 'Adam and Eve Cast Out Of Paradise' in its appropriate setting in Mexico," Tony Garza, the US Ambassador to Mexico, said in a statement.

Ransacking churches of religious art and artifacts is rampant in Mexico where temples often have poor or no security measures, making them easy prey to thieves.

The majority of the stolen pieces never enter the open art market. Many paintings are stolen to order and end up in private collections in Mexico and abroad.

- REUTERS