At the Shehyni – Medyka checkpoint on the Ukrainian-Polish border, Lviv customs officers stopped an attempt to illegally move an ancient 17th-century icon abroad. Experts from the National Museum in Lviv confirmed its authenticity and recognized it as a historical and cultural value. This was reported by representatives of the Lviv Customs in Facebook, writes UNN.
Details
During customs control of a Volkswagen Crafter car, which a citizen of Ukraine was returning from Poland in, employees of the Lviv Customs found an ancient icon among the passenger's personal belongings. The painting depicting a Gospel scene belongs to the brush of Andreas Asper – a Swiss artist of the early 17th century.
"The Gospel Scene", painted by Andreas Asper – a famous Swiss artist of the early 17th century, was among the driver's personal belongings. The authenticity of the work is indicated by the author's signature in the lower right corner and the inscription on the back of the painting
In order to verify the legality of moving the item across the border, the icon was sent for examination to the National Museum in Lviv named after Andrey Sheptytsky. After a thorough analysis, experts concluded that it is a museum exhibit that has significant historical and cultural value.
According to the experts' conclusion, the work depicting the holy apostles Peter and Paul is estimated at approximately 25 thousand US dollars, which is equivalent to more than one million hryvnias.
Based on the discovery of the value, customs officers drew up a protocol on violation of customs rules in accordance with Part 3 of Article 471 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for an attempt to illegally move cultural values across the state border.