Missing Munch paintings took a beating

Both the Edvard Munch masterpieces stolen two years ago were damaged during the time they were missing, but museum officials in Oslo saythey can be repaired.

Norwegian police announced on Thursday that they had recovered Munch's Madonna and The Scream, two years after they were stolen in a daring daylight raid.

Officials at Oslo's Munch Museum later confirmed that the paintings the police had found were the originals by Munch, considered Norway's most famous painter.

Both paintings have been scraped, torn or bumped, Ingebjorg Ydstie, acting director of the Munch Museum, told Norwegian reporters. The paintings have been returned to the museum.

Madonna has taken the harder beating. Its canvas stretcher frame is broken and there are tears in the lower left side of the painting, she said.

One of the holes is about an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter, she said.

The Scream, which is painted on board, has damage in one corner.

"The painting is curled in one corner, if you can say that," Ydstie told the Aftenposten newspaper.

"It is impact damage and the painting appears to have taken a hard blow and some of the paint has peeled off."

Specialists will begin examining the paintings on Friday, looking for damage that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Then the museum will begin a restoration effort, Ydstie said.

Daylight robbery

In 2004 masked men ran into the museum in daylight and grabbed the paintings from the walls under the eyes of astonished museum patrons.

Police arrested six men and three are serving prison terms over the heist.

Police have refused to say how they found the paintings, which remained missing even after the arrests.

Norwegian newspapers are reporting that David Toska, reputed to be the mastermind behind the thefts, may have tried to make a deal with prosecutors in return for revealing the location of the paintings.

Toska is serving time for another armed robbery. He is reported to have tried to exchange information about the paintings for a reduced sentence, but may have had to settle for comforts and privileges in prison.

A pioneer of the early 20th century Expressionist movement, Munch created several versions of his key works, including The Scream, known for its anguished subject screaming under a lurid sunset sky.

He painted four versions of The Scream, all part of a series called The Frieze of Life.