Silk Iranian Portrait Carpet

Silk Iranian Carpet with Portrait of Cristiano Ronaldo

In one of our most unusual pro-bono recoveries, this incredibly detailed portrait of Cristiano Ronaldo, woven in silk, was created by an Iranian artist.  It took over one year to produce and was sent to Ronaldo ‘on approval’ to the team’s hotel in Portugal.

The artist had hoped to sell the carpet to Ronaldo and was a bit optimistic in her approach.

Despite regular communication with the hotel concierge, who promised to show the piece to Ronaldo, the life-size carpet went missing and communication ceased.  The artist contacted ARI with a plea for help.

Art Recovery International’s Chris Marinello contacted the team, Ronaldo’s manager, and the parent company of the hotel chain.  The work was eventually located in a storage facility containing a vast number of ‘gifts’ that fans around the world send to Ronaldo. Apparently, hundreds of objects are sent to the star every year.

The carpet was recovered and returned to the artist who hopes to sell it to a Ronaldo fan.