Klimt's Portrait of a Lady is residing in Piacenza

A compelling headline in ArtNews today: Stolen Gustav Klimt Painting May Have Been Discovered in an Italian Gallery’s Wall.

So, if you've dreamed of visiting Piacenza, Italy, but have held back because the prized Klimt was missing, your dreams may soon come true.

A little history of the lady:

• 1916-17: Gustv Klimt paints his famous Portrait of a Lady. The oil on canvas painting measures 60 by 55 centimetres (24 in × 22 in). It depicts a portrait of a female figure, composed in an unusually lively expressionistic style.
• 1925: It was acquired by the Galleria Ricci-Oddi in Piacenza, Italy.
• 1996: X-ray analysis revealed that the portrait was an overpainted version of Klimt's lost work Portrait of a Young Lady (in hat and with scarf), which disappeared in 1917. The original portrait showed a woman with whom Klimt is believed to have had a love affair, but after she died suddenly, he painted over the work.
• February 22, 1997: The painting was reported stolen, shortly before a special exhibition planned at the gallery, during building renovations. The frame was found discarded on the roof next to a skylight (which was, however, too small for the painting to have been removed through it).
• April 1997: Italian police authorities discovered a high-quality forgery at Ventimiglia, on the Italian border with France, in a package addressed to the former Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi (who was hiding from the law in Tunisia). A theory emerges, that the "theft" in February may have been staged shortly before the exhibition to cover up the swap of the original painting with the forgery some months before.
• 2014: The case was reopened, in accordance with new facts.
• December 2019: 23 years after the theft, a bag containing what is believed to be the missing painting was recovered from a recess in an exterior wall of the gallery.

About Piacenza

Piazza Cavalli

• Charming Piacenza is located in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, the capital of the eponymous province.
• Piacenza is located at a major crossroads at the intersection of Route E35/A1 between Bologna and Milan, and Route E70/A21 between Brescia and Turin.
• Piacenza is also at the confluence of the Trebbia, draining the northern Apennine Mountains, and the Po, draining to the east.
• The etymology is long-standing, tracing an origin from the Latin verb placēre, "to please."In French, and occasionally in English, it is called Plaisance. The name means a "pleasant abode", or as James Boswell reported some of the etymologists of his time to have translated it, "comely".This was a name "of good omen.
• Many inhabitants of Piacenza and the surrounding province still use Piacentino, which is a variety of the Emilian dialect the Emilian-Romagnol language. Emilian-Romagnol is a member of a different Romance subfamily (Gallo-Italic) than Standard Italian (which is an Italo-Dalmatian language) and its distinct grammar and phonology make it mutually unintelligible with that language.
• Although there have been a number of notable poets and writers using Piacentino, it has experienced a steady decline during the 20th century due to the growing standardization of the Italian language in the national educational system.
• Piacenza hosts two universities, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Polytechnic University of Milan.
• Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi is an art museum dedicated mainly to modern Italian painters.
• The Piacenza's Archaeological Museum, part of the Civic Museums of Palazzo Farnese, houses the pre-Roman bronze Liver of Piacenza, an Etruscan bronze model of a sheep's liver dating from the end of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 1st century BCE. It was discovered in 1877 in Ciavernasco di Settima, near Gossolengo in the Piacenza hinterland. Containing writing on its surface delineating the various parts of the liver and their significance, it was likely used as an educational tool for students studying haruspicy, or divination.
• The city's main square, Piazza Cavalli, is named ("Cavalli" means "horses") for the two bronze equestrian monuments of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (r. 1586-), nephew and valiant general of Philip II of Spain) and his son Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces of Francesco Mochi, a Mannerist sculptor.
• The hills surrounding Piacenza are known for their vineyards. The wine produced in this area is qualified with a denominazione di origine controllata called "Colli Piacentini" ("Hills of Piacenza"). The main wines are Gutturnio (red wines, both sparkling and still), Bonarda (a red wine, often sparkling and foamy, made from Croatina grapes), Ortrugo (a dry white wine) and Malvasia (a sweet white wine).
• Piacenza and its province are known for the production of seasoned and salted pork products. The main specialities are pancetta (rolled seasoned pork belly, salted and spiced), coppa (seasoned pork neck, containing less fat than pancetta, matured at least for six months) and salame (chopped pork meat flavoured with spices and wine, and made into sausages).
• Piacenza railway station (Italian: Stazione di Piacenza) serves the city and comune of Piacenza, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Opened in 1859, it forms part of the Milan–Bologna railway, and is also a terminus of two secondary railways, linking Piacenza with Alessandria and Cremona, respectively.

Resources
Stolen Gustav Klimt Painting May Have Been Discovered in an Italian Gallery’s Wall - ArtNews
Painting Found Inside Gallery Walls Might Be Stolen Klimt - New York Times
Visit Piacenza - official tourism site

Old Piacenza Coat of Arms or Flag