Restored masterpiece ‘The Scream’ back on display

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Edvard Munch’s masterpiece “The Scream” goes back on display this week for the first time since it was stolen four years ago but has suffered permanent damage, museum officials said Wednesday.

Masked gunmen stole the work and another Munch masterpiece, “Madonna,” in a brazen daylight raid on the Munch Museum in August 2004. Police recovered the paintings, considered priceless, over a year later. Two men have been convicted and sentenced.

The two works show signs of damage despite extensive restoration. At a preview of the exhibition called “The Scream and Madonna Revisited,” which opens Friday, water damage to the lower left corner of “The Scream” was clearly visible, as were scrapes to both paintings.

“There has been an extremely comprehensive process to restore the paintings. There was significant damage,” said Gro Balas, a spokesman for the city of Oslo, which owns the museum.

“There is still a moisture stain on ’The Scream’ that cannot be repaired.”