A stolen 1958 Renato Scrollavezza violin has been recovered by police. The €25,000 violin was one of two instruments taken from the Parma-based luthier's home in 2004.

The original police investigation had gone cold when two weeks ago Scrollavezza's daughter Elisa, also a luthier, suddenly received an email from someone wishing to know the value of an inlaid Renato Scrollavezza violin made in 1958. Elisa Scrollavezza immediately suspected that the instrument was one of the two violins stolen in 2004. Her suspicions were confirmed after the emailer sent her photos of the violin, with its telltale image of Stradivari inlaid on the back.

Elisa Scrollavezza alerted the police, and investigators were soon able to identify the individual who contacted her. The police then used information from that person to track down and recover the violin.

The instrument, which was once used by violinist and pedagogue Ana Chumachenko, is now back in Renato Scrollavezza's personal collection. The other violin taken in the 2004 theft, which is inlaid with a portrait of Paganini on the back, remains missing.
 

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