The curious case of the Virgin of the Apple: stolen 63 years ago in La Rioja and accidentally found in Malaga Museum

The Virgin of the Apple (Virgen de la Manzana) sculpture was lost to public eye for decades. After it was stolen from the altarpiece of Monasterio de San Millán de Suso in the region of La Rioja back in 1963, the piece was recovered in the home of a photographer in France in December 1964. Despite its repatriation, an administrative error led to the Virgin being misplaced in the collection of Museo de Málaga, until it was recently recognised by Francisco Burgos and Germán Chicote.

Now, the centuries-old sculpture is about to finally return to its home in La Rioja for a temporary exhibition.

The journey of Virgen de la Manzana could inspire a film plot, starting with the robbery on the night of 4 August 1963. The quality of the piece and the lack of surveillance at the monastery must have encouraged the thief totry his luck. The crime was reported by the monastery guard, Ignacio Echeverría Casamayor.

There was no progress until the French Gendarmerie in Poitiers found the Virgin statue, alongside "30 or 40 other art objects" from Spain, "in the home of a photographer" in December 1964.

The work was then returned by the French authorities and was initially deposited at the directorate general of fine arts in Madrid for "cleaning and restoration". The idea was to return it to the monastery, but what appears to be an administrative error led to it being misplaced.

The unexpected twist in the story occurred when the piece was re-catalogued in Madrid and its description was modified by a date and name change. Virgen de la Manzana became Virgen sedente con el Niño (Virgin Seated with Child) and lost its ID.

Everything suggests that the Ministry of Culture sent it to the Malaga Museum by accident. "At that time, the prevailing idea was that all provincial museums of fine arts should exhibit a complete tour through the history of art. Here, of course, this piece does not fit and does not add much to our exhibition, because it does not represent Malaga's Romanesque or Gothic heritage," director of the Aduana art gallery María Morente told SUR.

Prior to the robbery, Virgen de la Manzana presided over the altarpiece of Monasterio de San Millán de Suso. As SUR has been able to contemplate thanks to an invitation by the Aduana gallery, it is a remarkable almost 90-centimetre-tall sculpture. Of its polychrome coating and gilding very little has resisted the test of time and the work of woodworms is visible from a short distance.

Placed in a room in the museum's restoration workshop that looks like an operating theatre, Virgen de la Manzana captures the observer with a serene expression. In her her left hand, she holds her son, although the key element is in her right hand - a sphere, the same as the one the child holds, that is supposed to represent the world. Popular belief, however, has likened the ball to an apple, hence the name.

In fact, on the back of the statue, one can see the certificate of Instituto Central de Restauración de Obras de Artes that identifies it as 'Virgen de la Manzana'.

The piece has undergone at least two treatments: a conservation process in September 1965, carried out by the Cruz Solís brothers, and a the recent restoration at the Malaga Museum.

At the end of this detective story, the Virgin is going to be transferred to the 'AutorÍA' exhibition in the cradle - the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. The transfer is planned for the second half of this year. Although the loan guarantees only a temporary transfer, the goal is for Virgen de la Manzana to definitively return home.

"This theft is the story of what happened to part of the artistic heritage during the 20th century in many of our towns," La Rioja regional minister of culture José Luis Pérez Pastor says, without forgetting to congratulate experts Francisco Burgos and Germán Chicote, who have individually "arrived at the same discovery", locating the piece in Malaga. The regional minister also highlights the collaboration of director general of fine arts Ángeles Albert and María Morente.