Dust lanes, thick absorbers, and the unification model for Seyfert galaxies

A modification of the popular unification model for Seyfert galaxies is proposed, which takes into account recent observational findings on the statistical properties of both type 1 and type 2 Seyferts. In the proposed scenario, Compton-thick Seyfert 2 galaxies are those sources observed through compact, thick matter (the `torus'), while Compton-thin/intermediate Seyfert galaxies are obscured by dust lanes at larger distances.