The Byzantine Fresco Chapel opened in February 1997 as part of the Menil collection which displayed the only intact Byzantine frescoes in the western hemisphere from the time it opened till February 2012. A frescoe is a quickly done painting in watercolor on wet plaster on the ceiling or wall, in order that the colors penetrate the plaster and when it dries they will become fixed. After it was announced that the collection would permanently return to Cyprus, the frescoes were later stolen from the chapel in the 1980s and cut into 38 pieces. They were then shipped by the thieves to Germany prepared to sell them in the arts black market. The 38 pieces of the frescoes were later bought by the Menil foundation from the thieves. The Menil’s founded
