Selling Stolen Italian Art is Difficult, Why Organise a Heist? An Expert Explains

Italian police present the recovery of 37 art works stolen across Italy. Alessandro di Meo/EPA

By Anja Shortland, King's College London

It took less than three minutes for an organised crime gang to steal a Renoir, Matisse and a Cezanne painting collectively worth around €9 million (£7.8m) from a private museum near Parma, Italy in March 2026. This is the second high profile art heist in recent months, after the theft of jewellery worth €9.5 million (£8.25m) from Paris’s Louvre in October 2025.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation where 

three paintings were recently stolen,

The items stolen are clearly valuable. But, as an expert in the governance of criminal markets, I can tell you acquiring the goods is only the first step. Turning this loot into cash is fraught with risk .

The Italian government takes the protection of its cultural heritage seriously, with a whole department of the Carabinieri (Italian police) devoted to the theft of arts and antiquities. This department scans the global art trade for forged, stolen and illegally exported treasures, demanding their return.

There is little chance of selling the stolen masterpieces on the international art market – even at a knockdown price. Whereas in the past dealers and auction houses might have turned a blind eye to the fishy origins of an outstanding artwork, over the past two decades the norms and procedures of the market have tightened considerably.

Anyone who buys art without checking whether a former owner has registered their interest in the object fails the bona fide (good faith) test. This means that they cannot obtain a good title and so the legal property right remains with the person or institution the artwork was stolen from. Also sales of stolen art where the seller sidestepped due diligence can be voided, meaning the money must be returned.

So reputable dealers and auction houses take their duty of care very seriously. At the very least they check the freely accessible Interpol database of stolen art before the sale. However, private databases – like that of the Art Loss Register – provide greater peace of mind, listing many more lost and stolen objects and limit searching to those with a legitimate interest in an object. When a register finds that someone is trying to bring a stolen artwork into the open market, they collect and pass on all information that could lead the police to its location or the people involved in its sale or storage.

Anything fresh from a museum wall is therefore unsaleable – unless it is jewellery that can be broken up and sold as (expensive) scrap. So, what might be the financial motivation behind this theft?

A Bond-style villain ordering favourite paintings to adorn their lair is an unlikely explanation. Yes, paintings could be stolen to order, but buying art on the open market to launder money is less risky. With high rewards for information or the return of stolen artworks, security and omerta (the code of silence) would have to be completely watertight when displaying stolen treasures.

On the other hand, “rewards for information” could be a motivation for theft in itself. In the middle of the last century, insurers regularly paid “finders” with so little scrutiny that high-value art theft became a profitable low-risk occupation. Institutions like the Art Loss Register broke that cosy coexistence and instead used any leads to help the police conduct recoveries and sting operations.

Nowadays, it is only safe to negotiate a deal over a “finder’s fee” when a stolen object has changed hands so many times that the line to the original thieves is lost in the mist of time. Even so, the ultimate “finder” would be lucky to realise more than 10% of the painting’s value, which they would also likely have to share with the thieves and various shady underworld owners along the way.

However, there is a third reason to steal artworks. Organised crime groups sometimes use stolen artworks as bargaining chips to negotiate more lenient punishment. For example, the Dresden jewellery thieves kept a few pieces of their haul aside to use their recovery to negotiate shorter sentences. Penitentos (“repentant ones”) who want to leave mafia organisations also sometimes provide information on the whereabouts of missing treasures. If there is a perception that stolen artworks can used to reduce a prison sentence or financial compensation package, their underworld value can grow far beyond the finder’s fee.

While it is difficult to verify the assertion that stolen artworks are used as collateral in drug deals, several unique treasures have indeed been retrieved from properties owned by senior mafiosi. These works have not been found in temperature controlled galleries, but rolled up in dank places that make museum curators weep with despair. Let us hope that the beautiful artworks from Parma are treated with respect until we see them again.

Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College London

Is Dark Chocolate Healthier than Milk Chocolate? Experts Explain the Latest Studies

Amid all of the delights of sharing an Easter celebratory table, is dark chocolate on the healthier side of indulgence? Pictured is Betty's Grande Easter Egg hand-made to order by Frederick Belmont which stands at half a metre tall, weighs five kilos and costs GBP 395. 

By Lauren Ball and Emily Burch

Easter chocolate is all over supermarket shelves. Some people reach straight for milk chocolate eggs while others pause at the darker varieties, assuming they’re healthier. Dark chocolate has gained a reputation as the “better” choice because it usually contains more cocoa and less sugar than milk chocolate.

But is dark chocolate actually healthier? Let’s see how the evidence stacks up.

Dark Chocolate is high in antioxidants

and contains five times more flavanols

than milk chocolate.

How do they compare?

All chocolate begins with the cocoa (or cacao) bean. Cocoa beans are the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree, a tropical plant native to Central and South America.

Processing the bean gives you cocoa solids (the bitter part) and cocoa butter (the fat part that gives chocolate its smooth texture).

Chocolate is made from cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. Milk chocolate also contains milk powder or condensed milk.

Dark chocolate typically contains a much higher proportion of cocoa solids, usually 50–90%.

Milk chocolate generally contains 20–30% cocoa solids, with the remaining bulk made up of milk ingredients and sugar.

How about nutritional benefits?

Because dark chocolate contains more cocoa solids than milk chocolate, it naturally provides slightly higher amounts of certain minerals.

This table shows the differences between milk chocolate (30% cocoa) and dark chocolate (more than 60% cocoa) per 20-gram serve. That’s about one row of a Lindt chocolate block.

As you can see, dark chocolate provides more minerals such as magnesium, iron and zinc. It also contains noticeably more caffeine (but far less than in a typical cup of coffee, which would contain about 100mg).

Milk chocolate offers significantly more calcium due to its milk solids, but it generally contains more added sugar.

Cocoa is naturally rich in plant compounds called polyphenols. These act as antioxidants in the body, helping to protect the body’s cells from damage.

Because dark chocolate contains more cocoa, it naturally contains higher levels of these compounds. In fact, dark chocolate contains roughly five times more flavanols (a type of polyphenol) than milk chocolate.

Compared to other foods often praised for their antioxidant content, cocoa contains around 17 times more catechins (another type of polyphenol) per serving than black tea. It also contains around three times more than red wine.

Does dark chocolate improve your health?

Research into cocoa and dark chocolate has produced some interesting findings, particularly about heart health.

Cocoa flavanols appear to help blood vessels relax and support better blood flow. Some clinical trials have reported small reductions in blood pressure and improvements in measures of blood vessel function after consuming cocoa products.

There is also broader evidence suggesting diets rich in flavanols may be linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease overall.

However, these findings come with important caveats.

Many of these trials use cocoa extracts containing high levels of flavanols. Others contain specially formulated chocolate rather than the typical chocolate bars or Easter eggs you’d find in supermarkets. The doses tested are also often far larger and far more concentrated than what people normally consume.

A large umbrella review (a review of reviews) involving more than one million participants did find links between eating chocolate and lower risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.

But the overall quality of evidence was rated as weak or very low, largely because many of the studies were observational. Observational studies can identify patterns, but they cannot prove chocolate itself caused those benefits.

The bottom line is that cocoa does contain beneficial plant compounds but the chocolate most of us enjoy is not a health supplement.

But I thought dark chocolate has less sugar?

Choosing dark chocolate doesn’t automatically make it the healthier option, especially where sugar is concerned. Some dark chocolate contains surprisingly high amounts.

Depending on the cocoa percentage and recipe, some dark chocolate products contain 40–50% sugar.

So a 150g dark chocolate Easter bunny containing 50% sugar, for example, can contain about 19 teaspoons of added sugar.

This applies to Easter eggs too. Some dark chocolate Easter eggs sold in supermarkets still list sugar as one of their first and main ingredients, ahead of cocoa butter. This means sugar makes up a significant chunk of what you’re eating.

So it’s always worth flipping the packet over and checking the ingredients list and nutritional panel to be sure.

Look at the ingredient list on Easter

eggs to gauge their sugar content.

What to choose this Easter?

Dark chocolate has a nutritional advantage over milk chocolate. But how much depends on the cocoa percentage and how it’s been made.

As a general rule, aim for 70% cocoa or more, and flip the packet over before you buy. In a higher-quality dark chocolate, cocoa should appear first in the ingredients list – not sugar.

A higher-quality dark chocolate might have its ingredients listed in this order: cocoa mass, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla.

A lower-quality dark chocolate might look like this: sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, emulsifiers, flavour, milk solids.

If sugar is listed first, it’s the largest ingredient by weight.

Beyond that, choose chocolate you actually enjoy and watch your portion size. Remember that your overall diet matters far more than a few Easter eggs.

The real health benefit of Easter chocolate? The enjoyment of sharing it.

Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland and Emily Burch, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Lecturer, Southern Cross University

A Brief History of Denim and Why the ‘Perfect Pair’ of Jeans Remains Elusive

Slim, straight-leg and skinny jeans have made a return, this time with higher waists and softer denim. Pictured above is Bella Hadid in am indigo Topshop 'Orson' pair. Cover picture of Jean-Christophe Bouvet (aka Pierre Cadault in Emily in Paris) by Andrea Heinsohn for DAM

By Rose Marroncelli

Denim is present in practically every country in the world and is widely adopted as one of the most common forms of everyday attire. Its appeal spans generations and social groups: jeans are worn worldwide by those who follow fashion and those who do not, by people seeking to stand out and by those who prefer to blend in. However, many of us have never found the perfect pair.

Although denim has been produced since the 16th century, its association with American culture and durable workwear emerged during the Californian gold rush of the 1850s. It was during this time that Levi’s – now arguably the most recognisable denim brand – was established.

Levi Strauss, an immigrant entrepreneur who arrived in California from Bavaria in the 1850s, opened a dry goods business catering to miners. One of his customers, the tailor Jacob Davis, developed the innovative use of metal rivets to reinforce stress points in work trousers, making them more durable. Strauss and Davis jointly patented this technique, and the Levi’s brand was born.

Blue jeans were originally a seen as symbol of labourers (like the miners) and they also gained a strong association with cowboys. In the decades that followed, denim jeans evolved from practical workwear into one of the most iconic and enduring symbols of global fashion and culture. Film stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean popularised the jeans and t-shirt look to a young generation in the 1950s. These films personified motorcycle-loving nonconformists, and 1950s Hollywood embraced denim as the garment of rebellion.

Today, the cultural significance of denim jeans has moved beyond early associations with workwear, the cowboy and the teenage rebel, to become a staple worn by people of all ages and backgrounds.

Finding the perfect pair

Denim jeans are often seen as a problematic fashion product in terms of sustainability, because their production leaves a considerable environmental footprint.

Cheap prices on the high street can encourage consumers to treat denim products as short-term items, reducing their lifespan. Cotton, which is commonly the main fabric for denim, is incredibly water intensive; the production of one pair of jeans uses approximately 7,500 litres of water.

Different components involved in the making of a single pair of jeans, such as denim, thread, cotton and buttons, can originate from different countries all over the world. This raises questions regarding the environmental costs involved in the production process. Further issues include that jeans are often not made from single fibre materials and therefore cannot be recycled.

Denim is a popular fabric around the world. Andrii Nekrasov

Adding to sustainability concerns, at the consumer level, the perfect pair of jeans remains an elusive concept. But in a recently published book chapter, I explain that the perfect pair of jeans is elusive for a reason. Jeans have to be correct for the individual wearer in terms of comfort, social and personal identity, and also the complexity of fit.

Previous reports have focused on women’s struggle to find jeans that fit and are flattering. The inability to find the perfect pair of jeans may encourage overconsumption, due to repeated purchasing based on poor fit.

My research shows that this is an issue which applies to all genders. The men I spoke to noted how they resented paying a higher price for brands like Levi’s, so spent less by purchasing cheap, high street alternatives. This attitude can lead to overconsumption, as low price points achieved through low-quality production often compromise product longevity.

This demonstrates the perpetuating cycle of fast fashion, driven by cheap, low-quality production, and contradicts the original purpose of jeans of being highly durable and having longevity. The combination of highly environmentally damaging production processes with overconsumption results in even greater environmental harm.

Retailers can make efforts to reduce the trend of overconsumption with better fitting garments. However, fit is a complex issue for retailers as well as consumers. For the retailer, producing jeans in a wide range of sizes and styles is often not cost effective, and complex sizing systems can also confuse the consumer.

Technology could provide future solutions to improving the accuracy of fit. Personalised virtual fitting, made possible through improvements in 3D human shape recognition, could ensure improved fit for the consumer. This would benefit online shoppers, although the technology does remain in its infancy, and is yet to be adopted by major online fashion retailers. Virtual fitting rooms also cannot replicate the feeling of denim next to the skin, so although the fit may be perfect, comfort could be compromised.

Ultimately, the enduring challenge of finding the “perfect pair” of jeans highlights not only the garment’s cultural significance but also the opportunity for the fashion industry – and consumers – to move toward more sustainable, better-fitting and more thoughtfully designed denim for the future.

Rose Marroncelli, Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University

Look Back at the Highlights of Paris Haute Couture Streetstyle Spring/Summer 2026 Captured by Andrea Heinsohn

American actor Teyana Taylor strikes a pose on the steps of the Petit Palais before the Schiaparelli show. Photograph (above) and cover picture of Jean-Christophe Bouvet (who plays Pierre Cadault in Emily in Paris) by Andrea Heinsohn for DAM 

In Paris, haute couture does not always begin on the runway. During Spring/Summer 2026, the pavements, courtyards and grand staircases, notably outside Schiaparelli at the Petit Palais, formed a parallel arena where fashion was defined in real time. We document the evolving language of couture street style, tracing how influence moves fluidly between celebrity, industry, and a global audience. These images present a record of moments when the street did not simply reflect couture, it actively shaped it. Photography by Andrea Heinsohn

Heart Evangelista wears a tailored

Schiaparelli jacket to the Paris show.

LOOKING back to January’s Spring/Summer 2026 Paris Haute Couture Week, it is the scenes outside Schiaparelli at the Petit Palais that feel most enduring. The wide stone steps leading up to the gilded façade became a stage in their own right, an informal yet highly visible theatre where editors, stylists, and invited guests shaped the visual identity of the week. 

Andrea Heinsohn's photographs capture this fleeting street choreography: the stillness before a pose, the movement between frames, the quiet negotiation between spectacle and self-possession. 

Among the front-row regulars, fashion editors stood out as much as the stylists themselves, Suzy Menkes with her signature bouffant hair, Anna Dello Russo commanding attention in her signature maximalist yet elegant style, and the German fashion influencer Leonie Hanne.

Among celebrity arrivals was Teyana Taylor, whose arrival was self-possessed as she wore a pearly double crown. In the weeks since, that appearance has gained added context. At the 98th Academy Awards, she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for One Battle After Another, a role that had already earned her a Golden Globe earlier in the season. While the Oscar went to Amy Madigan, the film itself secured Best Picture, with Taylor joining the cast on stage during the acceptance, a moment that quickly circulated online.  

Andrea Heinsohn's photographs capture the fleeting choreography of streetstyle: the stillness before a pose, the movement between frames, the quiet negotiation between spectacle and self-possession 

Chiara Ferragni back in the

fashion ring after her legal

troubles kept her away.  

Also on the steps was Heart Evangelista, whose presence underscores the increasingly global dimension of couture week. Known for her series I Am Heart and her multifaceted career spanning fashion, art, and philanthropy, she brought a polished yet personal sensibility to the setting, bridging the distance between high fashion and lived experience. Nearby, Chiara Ferragni maintained her signature poise, reinforcing the ongoing dialogue between couture and digital influence, after resolving her legal troubles in Italy. 

Elsewhere in the city, beyond the steps of the Petit Palais, the street style narrative continued with equal intensity, even with umbrellas raised with the downpour before the Chanel show and the chilly temperatures at night for the evening events.

Jean-Christophe Bouvet, widely recognised for his role as Pierre Cadault in Emily in Paris, became an unexpected focal point for photographers and fans alike. Moving between shows, often accompanied by his signature fan and an air of theatrical ease, he blurred the line between character and self, embodying the enduring allure of Parisian fashion eccentricity.

Beyond these recognizable figures, the vitality of the street lay in its wider cast. Emerging creatives, independent stylists, and seasoned editors contributed to a visual landscape that felt considered rather than excessive. Tailoring was sharp, silhouettes strong, and even the more expressive looks carried a sense of editing, suggesting a shift toward style over spectacle. What follows is a portrait of couture beyond the runway, captured in passing moments across Paris, where fashion is not only shown, but lived. ~ Jeanne-Marie Cilento

See more highlights of the Paris Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2026 Streetstyle