1. The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London
WC1B 3DG
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8000/8299
Fax: +44 (0)20 7323 8616
Email: press@britismuseum.org
www.britishmuseum.org
PRESS RELEASE
30th October 2009
The British Museum robbed off the ‘The Black George’
The famous Russian painting of ‘St George’ was stolen from the British Museum last night
between 10.00 pm and 1.00 am. Unknown perpetrators succeeded in abstracting the
£850.000 masterpiece by putting the security system of the museum out of operation.
The Byzantine icon from the 14th century, on loan from Moscow’s State Historical Museum,
was to be exhibited in the British Museum until July 2010. The item, which is part of a
valuable collection of five panels, was displayed in a safe bullet-proof glass showcase on the
upper floor of the museum.
Highly sophisticated gadgets were used by the thieves to penetrate all security networks
without being detected by the CCTV cameras. Four suspects have been detained by the
Metropolitan Police and according to Detective Chief Superintendent Roxana Tintea “The
suspects are being questioned as we speak and we are also checking the CCTV footage
from outside the museum.”
The Director of the British Museum, Filippo Ciampini said: “I am deeply shocked about this
incident and I hope that the authorities will solve this organised crime as quickly as possible.”
Jayne Boachie, Chief Security Officer of the Museum added: “We are still investigating why
the security system did not detect the perpetrators and how the alarm system was disabled."
The State Historical Museum has been notified of the theft and they have offered to work
closely with the British Museum. The Director of the State Historical Museum promised a
reward of £10,000 for information leading to the return of the artwork.
END
Notes for editors
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2. • Related stories
For related story see our past press release “Most valuable Russian painting to be
displayed in the British Museum” from this link:
www.britishmuseum.org/press/01102009/blackgeorge
• ‘Black George’
For further information on the painting please visit
www.britishmuseum.org/roman-byzantine-icons/blackgeorge
For the picture of the icon check www.britishmuseum.org/roman-byzantine-icons/
blackgeorge/image
• Police investigating team
To contact police investigating team call 0800 12 34 5
• Special committee
A special committee has been set up to receive information that could be valuable
to the search. To contact the committee call 0800 67 89 0 or email to
blackgeorge@comittee.org
Press Contact
Yushua A. Shuaib
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 8000/8201
Mobile: +44 (0)77 6551 1461
Email: yshuaib@britishmuseum.org
MA PR Team
Jayne Boachie, Chief Security Officer British Museum
Filippo Ciampini, Director British Museum
Luisa Elena Denuell, Curator British Museum
Yekaterina Odintsova, Curator State Historical Museum
Yushua A. Shuaib, Press Office British Museum
Roxana Tintea, Detective Chief Superintendent Metropolitan Police
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