Goya Goes Home

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January 11, 2007 12:36 PM

A Spanish painting worth more than $1 million is back home today at the Toledo Museum of Art after being stolen last November.

"We are thrilled that this painting has been safely recovered and returned home to Toledo," Museum Director Don Bacigalupi said. 

As first reported in "The Blotter," the masterpiece, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes' "Children With a Cart," was stolen while in transit from the Toledo Museum to the Guggenheim in New York, where it was to appear in a Spanish art exhibit, "Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History."

Federal authorities believe the thieves who stole the million-dollar painting dumped it because it was too hot to handle.

"At this time, it appears that the painting was stolen as a random target of opportunity," FBI spokesperson Jerri Williams had told ABC News at the time of its recovery.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Federal investigators believe the thieves had stumbled onto the painting during a routine truck robbery somewhere in the Scranton, Pa., area as the painting was en route to the Guggenheim.

The Toledo Museum of Art is still considering having the Goya painting join the Spanish art exhibit at a later date.

The FBI credited the "extensive publicity" of the theft and the "reward of up to $50,000" for the artwork's recovery.

No arrests have yet been made in the case, but the FBI is optimistic about the investigation.  "The investigation is ongoing, and things are looking good," FBI special agent Steven Siegel told ABC News.