Stolen Paintings Recovered

Norwegian authorities have recovered two stolen paintings by Edvard Munch that have been missing for two years. Three men are already serving jail terms for the thefts, but it took until now to actually recover the paintings.

 "We are 100 percent certain they are the originals," police chief Iver Stensrud told a news conference. "The damage was much less than feared."

"The Scream" depicts a terrified figure under a blood-red sky. The other, "Madonna," shows a bare-breasted woman with long black hair.

Two armed men broke into the Munch Museum in Oslo in August 2004 and yanked the two works from the walls in front of dozens of terrified tourists.

The paintings, both from 1893, have been missing even though three men were convicted in May of taking part in the theft and were sentenced to up to eight years in jail. Two of them were ordered to pay $122 million in damages.

I never really cared for The Scream but I must admit, Madonna is actually a nice painting (may not be considered work safe even though it is art). The title may or may not bother people, although there is an alternate title to the painting that does not have the religious overtones.