MEXICO CITY, July 8 - Mexican authorities announced on Wednesday the arrest of a 26-year-old man suspected of removing bronze works from the courtyard sculpture garden of San Cosme church in an historic district of the capital. The public safety secretariat of Mexico City, SSC, said in a statement that clothing and physical traits of the detainee matched those of the person shown in surveillance footage of the thefts. The individual is also suspected of possession of marijuana and potential charges had not yet been determined, the statement said.
The thefts were first highlighted by Father Jose de Jesus Aguilar, who posted videos to social media showing the artworks missing from the picturesque courtyard. Surveillance footage made public by the priest shows a person wearing a pale hoodie climbing onto a low wall, leaning over shrubbery and then forcing a statue off its plinth by swinging it back and forth until it came free.
The items reported stolen include Leonora Carrington's 'Black Dog,' described as a mystical guardian fashioned using an ancient metal-casting technique. Also taken was a bronze piece by sculptor Cesar Ruiz Cureño, which the report linked to Remedios Varo's surrealist painting 'Woman Leaving the Psychoanalyst,' as well as an untitled sculpture depicting a winged angel embracing a child.
The article notes that Lancashire-born Carrington and Spanish painter Remedios Varo were neighbors and close friends who met in Paris and later moved to Mexico City during World War Two. Local media cited in the reporting placed an estimated value on the stolen artworks at between 150,000 and 200,000 Mexican pesos, the equivalent of roughly $8,500 to $11,400 using the exchange rate published with the report.
The SSC's statement did not indicate whether the sculptures had been located or recovered following the arrest. In a video posted on X, Father Aguilar said that expensive plaques had also been taken and said the thief had broken a padlock on the gate to remove the statues from the courtyard. The priest suggested the perpetrator would likely have intended to sell the works for their material value.
Speaking about the parish, Aguilar said: "We will keep ensuring that the parish of San Cosme is a place of faith but also of art." Beyond the arrest and the priest's social media posts, the public record provided in the SSC statement leaves open several questions, including whether the pieces will be recovered and what formal charges will be brought.
Exchange rate used in the report: $1 = 17.5719 Mexican pesos.