Ingres, Canova and Gustav Klimt have enjoyed the artistic ambiance of Antico Caffè Greco, one of Rome’s oldest coffee houses.
Goethe, Keats and Mark Twain were among its clientele and in 1948 a group of intellectuals posed for photographer Irving Penn surrounded by the art on the walls.
The coffee house founded in 1760 has been under a cloud, however, due to a longstanding dispute over a rent rise. Its landlord, the historic Israelite Hospital, and the café's manager, Carlo Pellegrini, have been at loggerheads for the past six years.
Now, the police have been called in because its 300-strong collection of paintings has disappeared from its walls as well as sculptures after the business shuttered. A judge had ruled the works, worth more than $1m, must stay put.
Pellegrini told La Repubblica newspaper the art was moved to a safe space as a precaution because of problems with the Caffè Greco's electrical wiring. He stressed the collection belongs to the café, not its landlord.