Four men charged with £50m Da Vinci masterpiece theft appear in court

The Madonna With The Yarnwinder was taken from Drumlanrig Castle, near Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway, in August 2003.

Police retrieved the 500-year-old artwork, which has been valued at between £15 million and £40 million, in a swoop on a solicitors' office in the centre of Glasgow yesterday morning.

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Four men were arrested and appeared in private today on petition at Dumfries Sheriff Court.

Calum Jones, 52, from Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire, Robert Graham, 55, of Aughton, Ormskirk, Lancashire, John Doyle, 58, from Halsall, Ormskirk, and 51-year-old Marshall Ronald, of Upholland, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, were charged with conspiracy to rob and extort money.

All four made no plea or declaration at the private appearance before Sheriff Kenneth Barr.

They were committed for further examination and granted bail with special conditions.

The Madonna with the Yarnwinder, painted in 1501, was taken from a castle belonging to the 9th Duke of Buccleuch, Britain's largest landowner, four years ago.

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The thieves allgedly joined a tour party at Drumlanrig Castle, near Dumfries in south-western Scotland, waited until it moved on, then overpowered the woman member of staff who was there to guard the painting.

An alarm was set off but the raiders jumped into a waiting car.

They are said to have thrown away the frame just beyond the castle perimeter. Minutes later, it's claimed they changed vehicles and vanished.

The 9th Duke of Buccleuch said at the time he was devastated at the loss of an artwork that had been in his family for generations.

He died last month and a family friend said: "Right up until the end, he hoped his masterpiece would come home."

His son, the 10th Duke, said news of the painting's recovery was "warmly welcomed" and he praised officers for the way in which they pursued the case.

Detectives took the painting to a secure vault, where experts were examining it last night.

A spokesman for the international Art Loss Register, which records the theft of significant works, said: "This will be highly significant."

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Drumlanrig Castle is a £ 403million treasure trove boasting works by Leonardo, Rembrandt and Holbein. The Leonardo was bought in Italy in the 18th century by the 3rd Duke.

Police insiders believed the painting was being used as collateral for drug deals and those who stole it had little idea of its value or importance.