Van Dyck Painting Recovered After 70 Years: Stolen for Curtains, Now Returned to Rightful Owner

A painting by Anthony van Dyck, stolen 70 years ago from Boughton House in Northamptonshire, has been recovered. The thief, Leonard Gerald Gwynne Ramsey, editor of *The Connoisseur*, reportedly stole the "Portrait of Wolfgang Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg" to fund new curtains. The painting, part of a series of oil sketches, disappeared in 1951 and resurfaced six years later when the Duchess of Buccleuch spotted it at Harvard University. Dr. Meredith Hale's investigation revealed Ramsey sold the painting anonymously through Christie's after obtaining a certificate of authentication. It then passed through various hands, eventually ending up at the University of Toronto. Following Dr. Hale's research, the university returned the artwork to the Duke of Buccleuch, restoring a missing piece to Van Dyck's Iconography project. The case highlights a breach of trust within the art world and the importance of provenance research.