Boston library's missing artwork found -- in unlikely place

BOSTON - Boston Public Library officials said Thursday that two rare and valuable artworks that vanished last month have been found, and they never left the library.

Library President Amy Ryan announced in a statement that the 1634 Rembrandt etching and 1504 Durer engraving were found Thursday in the library's print stacks by a library conservation officer, who had been searching for eight weeks.

"We're thrilled to have found these treasures right here at home," Ryan said. "They were found safe and sound, simply misfiled."

CBS Boston reports that the pieces of art were found 80 feet from where they should have been and that Ryan attributed it to a "human error."

It was an error that cost Ryan her job. On Wednesday, under heavy pressure from the public and the mayor, Ryan announced that she would be resigning July 3.

Ryan told The Boston Globe that even though the artwork was found, she still planned to resign. She added that her name should now be cleared.

"Someone just said this to me and it's true: 'Nothing is missing under my watch,'" Ryan said. "All the items that we have been told are missing -- but that have not been verified -- went missing years before I started at BPL."

Boston police, the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office had been investigating the whereabouts of the artwork. The Durer engraving is worth an estimated $600,000 and the Rembrandt etching has an estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000.

And last week, the library announced that gold coins originally placed in the cornerstone of the main building may have gone missing decades ago. The coins were apparently placed in an 1888 time capsule that was opened in the 1990s. No estimate of the coins' value was disclosed.

An audit of the library released last week said it was ineffectively protecting special collections, haphazardly storing valuables and not maintaining a complete inventory of prized possessions.