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Portrait of the The Duke of Wellington
In the James Bond movie thriller, Dr. No, when Bond is taken to Dr. No’s palatial lair, he is amazed
to see Goya's Portrait of the Duke of
Wellington. The painting had been stolen from the National Gallery in
London in 1961 just before filming began. Ken Adam, a production designer,
contacted the National Gallery in London and obtained a slide of the picture,
painting the copy over the course of the weekend, prior to filming commencing
on Monday.
So what is the rest of the story? The Portrait of the Duke of Wellington was painted by the Spanish
artist Francisco Goya of the British general Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
Wellington in 1812 after the general’s triumphant entry into Madrid during the
Peninsular War against Napoleon. The
painting remained in aristocratic hands until 1961, when it was auctioned off
by the 11th Duke of Leeds. An American
collector, Charles Wrightsman, was about to take possession of the painting
when the Wolfson Foundation with the help of a special British Treasury grant,
obtained the painting for the National Gallery.
At this point all should have been well, but one Kempton
Bunton, a disabled pensioner living on a modest fixed income and bitter with
having to pay government imposed television licensing fees, saw red. The government was handing out grants for
la-di-da paintings while he struggled to come up with money to pay for
television. Bunton took direct action.
From conversations with guards at the National Gallery,
Bunton learned that the elaborate electronic security system was deactivated in
the early morning to allow for cleaning. In the early morning hours of 21
August 1961, Bunton entered the museum through a window he had previously
loosened in a toilet. Bunton then made off with the painting undetected and
escaped through the window.
The police initially thought the theft was the work of an
expert professional art thief.
Subsequently, a letter was received requesting a donation of £140,000 to
charity to pay for TV licenses for poorer people and demanding an amnesty for
the thief. The ransom demands were
ignored by authorities.
In 1965, four years after the theft, Bunton returned the
painting and surrendered to police. A jury convicted Bunton only of the
theft of the frame, which had not been returned. Bunton was sentenced to
three months in prison.
1 comment:
this is an awesome comment. I first saw this movie, about 1969, when my dad let me. I always remember that sideways glance from bond, as hes about to walk up the stairs. Tonight, 12/2020, i was compelled to watch dr no again, and remembered, that same glance. I researched it and found you - thank you sir! God Bless you!
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