Two solicitors were among four men in their fifties who appeared in court today over the theft of a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece valued at up to £25 million.

Calum Jones, 52, a partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing in Glasgow, where The Madonna with the Yarnwinder was recovered by police on Thursday, and Marshall Ronald, 51, a solicitor from Greater Manchester, were charged with conspiracy to rob and extort money.

They appeared at Dumfries Sheriff Court along with Robert Graham, 55, of Aughton, Ormskirk, Lancashire, and John Doyle, 58, from Halsall, Ormskirk. All four were granted bail; neither made any plea or declaration.

The court apperance, which was held in private before Sheriff Kenneth Barr, came after the painting’s owner, the Duke of Buccleuch, spoke movingly about its return. It was stolen in an audacious raid four years ago from his family’s stately home at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway.

Although “overjoyed” that the masterpiece had been found, the duke said that he was sorry that his father, who died last month aged 83, had not lived to see its recovery.

He said: “Our pleasure is inevitably tinged by sadness that my father, who died just a month ago, should not have lived to see the safe return of this wonderful work of art.”

He added: “He was the most knowledgeable and conscientious steward of the family art collection and he minded deeply about its violent theft from Drumlanrig.

“It’s worth remembering that the Leonardo was on public display at the time, as it had been at his instigation, for nearly three decades. He was dismayed that not only he and his family but the wider public would be denied the chance of drawing pleasure from it.” The duke said that the painting appeared to be in “remarkably good condition”.

The theft, which occurred in broad daylight in August 2003, was one of the most stunning art heists in living memory.

Posing as tourists, two men walked into the castle and joined a guided tour before overpowering a female member of staff and pulling the 500-year-old artwork from its display case.

They left through a kitchen window before driving off in a white Volkswagen Golf with two accomplices. They later switched into a second car, a dark green Rover.

The painting, which depicts the Madonna and infant Jesus with a cross-shaped yarnwinder, symbolic of Christ’s crucifixion, had been in the Buccleuch family for more than 200 years. It was considered so important that it was placed on the FBI’s top ten most wanted list of stolen works of art.

Detective Superintendent Brian Anderson, of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, said today that Thursday’s arrests were the result of a “prolonged and thorough investigation”. About 60 officers were involved in searches of premises in both Glasgow and Lancashire.

He said: “About 11.20am yesterday morning officers from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary went to a solicitor’s office in the centre of Glasgow, where they recoverd the painting Madonna with Yarnwinder, which had been stolen from Drumlanrigh Castle at Thornhill in August 2003.”

He added: “The painting was escorted by Dumfries and Galloway officers to a vault, where it remains at this time. The painting has been examined and has been confirmed as being genuine.”

As of last night nobody had stepped forward to claim any reward. At one stage £1 million was offered for information leading to the painting’s return.

According to his firm’s website, Calum Jones, from Kilmacolm in Renfrewshire, is a partner at HBJ Gateley Wareing’s Glasgow offices, where he specialises in corporate finance and corporate insolvency. A spokesman for the firm said that there was “an interesting, but benign, explanation” behind Mr Jones’s arrest. Marshall Ronald, of Upholland, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, is understood to work as a solicitor in the Greater Manchester area.

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