MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) - The Vyborg City Court in the Leningrad Region has confiscated a painting by prominent Russian artist Karl Briullov entitled, ‘Christ in the Sepulcher', which was brought into Russia illegally, the Prosecutor General's Office reported Thursday. 

The court found that in March 2003, collector Alexander Pevzner, a resident of Germany, brought the painting, which he owns, into Russia via the customs station in Vyborg in the Leningrad Region. Even though it was a cultural property, Pevzner did not declare the masterpiece. The painting was later seized and transferred to a Russian Museum in St. Petersburg for safekeeping. 

However, the smuggling charges against Pevzner were dismissed since the statute of limitations had expired. The painting was nevertheless held by the court.

In April 2010, the western media reported that Karl Briullov's masterpiece was being kept under inadequate conditions. The Russian Museum denied the allegations and displayed the painting for journalists as confirmation.