The 17th-century painting The Taking of Christ by Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Caravaggio, stolen from a Ukrainian museum in 2008, has been found in Berlin, Die Welt reported on Monday.

The masterpiece, also known as the Kiss of Judas, was stolen from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art in southern Ukrainian city of Odessa. The thieves intended to sell it to the German art collector.

The German newspaper said police in Germany detained three Ukrainian nationals and a Russian when they attempted to hand over the painting to the buyer.

The painting was brought to Odessa at the beginning of the 20th century. It was long believed to be a copy of a Caravaggio, but the authenticity of the work was established in 2005 while the canvas was on exhibit in Spain.

Experts estimate that the painting is worth as much as several tens of million euros.

BERLIN, June 28 (RIA Novosti)