The mystery unravelled

The story of the theft of the Last Supper painting from St Mary's Church in Purton is the stuff of fiction.

Now, after eight years, it finally looks set to have a happy ending with the return of the fully-restored 17th century masterpiece to its rightful place above the altar.

Vicar Reverend Brian Fessey begins the story of the missing art treasure in classic novel fashion: "It was a stormy night in October 1994.

"In an out of the way church a break-in is always a possibility on such a night."

Amid the wind and thunder, no one noticed the sound of the vestry door being smashed in. In the morning parishioners made a grim discovery.

The pride and joy of their 13th century church was missing a painting that had hung behind the altar for more than 200 years.

The Last Supper is believed to have been painted by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens, or one of his pupils, around 1655 and was donated to the church in 1782 by the Countess of Shaftesbury.

Subsequently valued at a $125,000 in a US court the Last Supper was priceless to the people of Purton.

Mr Fessey said: "The initial reaction to the theft was one of disbelief and anger from local people who had lived here all their lives coming up to the high altar to receive communion.

"Focussing on that paint-ing was an important part of their worship more than just a painting, it was part of their faith which was being spoiled."

Two other paintings were also a stolen: a small depic-tion of the Virgin Mary painted on brass and a large 19th century canvas which was severely faded by age.

Scotland Yard made inquiries about the paint-ings in Amsterdam, where the trade in stolen art is rife, but made no progress.

Then, some time later, Mr Fessey received a phone call from detectives from Middlesborough police.

They had received a tip-off that the Last Supper was in a haul of stolen art they were tracking down.

But this lead too proved fruitless.

All was apparently lost until early 1999 when Mr Fessey received a call from an FBI agent in Florida.

She reported that there were two men in custody charged with attempting to sell a painting which answered the description of Jordaens' Last Supper.

Purton parishioners have FBI special agent Alexis Carpinteri to thank for this breakthrough.

On January 11, 1999 agent Carpinteri received a telephone call from a contact who said he knew of a man attempting to sell two stolen English paint-ings in Florida.

They were said to have been taken from the Queen's personal collection during the 1992 fire at Windsor Castle.

Agent Carpinteri con-tacted the Arts and Ant-iques Squad at New Scot-land Yard.

Although no paintings had been stolen from Windsor Castle, they did pass on details of The Last Supper.

A faxed photograph revealed that it was identical to the painting being offered for sale in Florida.

Agent Carpinteri set up a meeting between a Mr Graham Lee of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and an accomplice who agreed to conduct the sale of the stolen masterpiece on February 11 at a hotel suite in Plantation, Florida.

Lee, 48, was unable to attend the meeting because he was too drunk.

But at 6.35pm, a man identifying himself only as Richard, arrived carrying a long tube which he said the painting was being carried in.

He agreed a selling price of $57,500 dollars and then, at 7.15pm, FBI agents pounced placing Richard Vivian Carter, 46, under arrest.

Court transcripts acquired from the Criminal Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, reveal that Richard Carter (aka Richard Cawthorne and Richard Scawthorne) and Graham Lee appeared in the dock on July 20, 1999.

As both men pleaded guilty to selling the stolen painting, there was no trial.

Lee escaped prison because he had no previous convic-tions and succeeded in convincing the court that Carter was the ringleader.

He was sentenced to four months detention at home and five years probation.

But Carter faced a stiffer penalty for the additional charge of illegally re-entering the United States after being deported in 1986 for a burglary he committed in San Francisco in 1974.

The Florida District Attorney was hopeful plea bargaining would induce Carter to reveal the whereabouts of the mystery second painting which he had also originally offered for sale.

But despite interrogation by a team of British detec-tives, at a cost of £6,000, and numerous attempts by the court, he could not be persuaded to co-operate.

His story, and even his name, varied from court appearance to court appearance.

He said he had bought The Last Supper for £1,000, along with another painting, after viewing it in the gents' toilet of a London pub.

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Stewart said Carter had shown remorseless disdain and arrogance for the court.

She said: "He must really think that we are not very bright."

His defence lawyer, Lothar George, painted a more charitable picture, describ-ing him as "irascible, hot-headed and even dumb in some ways".

After months of legal argu-ment, Carter was sentenced in November 1999 with the court still none the wiser about the true story behind the theft of the painting and its subsequent sale.

Carter never revealed the location of the second painting, which could well have been one of the other works taken from Purton Church.

Sentencing Carter the judge said: "He is a character who has never been held accountable for his many crimes.

"This defendant has no remorse, he has nothing but arrogance and disdain for this process and everyone involved in it."

He sentenced him to 21 months jail.

The Last Supper arrived back in Purton last June but the story was still not over.

Through being folded and then rolled the wrong way, it had suffered substantial damage. Some 20 per cent of the original paint was lost.

A restoration appeal was launched and within a few weeks £10,000 was raised.

The Last Supper is currently with Bristol art restorer Elizabeth Holford, pictured below, who is confident she can bring it back to its former glory.

But she told the Advertiser that it is her toughest commission in 30 years and will take hundreds of hours yet to complete.

She is due to finish her painstaking work this time next year and the church is looking forward to its return in autumn 2003.

In the meantime, an alternative painting of the Last Supper, created by 93-year artist Leslie Holland, sits in its place at the altar at St Mary's. Mr Fessey said everyone is in the village is looking forward to the Last Supper's eventual return.

He said: "It is a part of our life. People see the church as a focal point of our community whether they worship here or not. And that painting is an important part of the church.

"People who saw it when it returned were amazed that it could be restored at all. Now we are looking forward to getting it back. Hopefully it can now hang undisturbed for another 200 years."