Solve the mystery of Picasso’s still life painting Pablo Picasso

A small Picasso painting that sparked a police investigation after it apparently disappeared while en route from Madrid to Granada for an exhibition earlier this month may have never moved from its pick-up point, long enough for a still life.

Officers from the Spanish National Police began searching for the gouache and pencil works Naturaleza muerta with guitar (Still Life with Guitar) after failing to arrive on a truck transporting a shipment of exhibits on loan from the capital to the CajaGranada Foundation on October 3.

The picture, which was painted in 1919 and is small enough to fit in a handbag, is believed to be worth €600,000 (£525,000). If she had reached her destination, she would have been one of the stars of the foundation’s still-life exhibition: Khulud Al-Khamel. But she never did.

The foundation said that although some of the works were carefully packaged, they were not properly numbered, making a “thorough examination” impossible. However, the delivery was signed and the truck and crew went on their way.

The following Monday, the pieces, which had been under video surveillance all weekend, were dismantled.

“Once the CajaGranada Foundation employees completed the unpacking process, the works were moved to different parts of the exhibition room,” the foundation said in a statement. “Mid-morning that day, the curator and head of exhibitions at the foundation noticed that one of the works was missing. This piece is a small gouache painting by Pablo Picasso, called ‘Still Life with Guitar.’”

The Foundation reported the matter to the National Police, which began an investigation.

A week of speculation about the fate of the painting ended last Friday, when police announced the recovery of the painting.

“It may not have reached the truck at all,” the National Police said in a short statement. He added, “The Historical Heritage Unit is keeping the investigation open, and the Scientific Police has opened the package containing the painting and is examining it.”

The Guardian understands that despite the much-publicized hiccup, the corporation is still keen to receive Still Life with Guitar so it can be screened as planned.

Picasso’s fame – and the huge sums generated by his works – have long made his art a target for thieves around the world.

In February 2007, two Picasso paintings worth a total of €50 million (£45 million) were stolen from the home of the artist’s granddaughter in Paris. Two years later, a Picasso sketchbook worth more than 8 million euros was stolen from a Paris museum dedicated to the artist.

Twelve Picasso paintings, worth around £9 million, were stolen from a villa on the French Riviera owned by another of Picasso’s granddaughters, Marina Picasso, in 1989.

Many other Picasso paintings have been stolen from galleries. In 1976, more than 110 works of art were stolen from a museum in the southern city of Avignon in one of the largest art thefts in France.