In May 1991, the exhibition "Russian Art of the Age of Alexander II" opened in Genoa, it featured 75 paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery. The exposition was a huge success. There were only three days left before its closing, as on the night of September 25-26, one of the halls of the Villa Croce Gallery was robbed. The Art Carabinieri, the world's first special unit, which searches for stolen cultural property both in Italy and abroad, helped solve this high-profile case.