Four masked thieves recently stole three masterpiece paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse worth over $10 million from a museum in northern Italy in a brazen three-minute heist, outlets reported.
Italy’s Rai News, citing information from the police, explained that the heist occurred on the night of March 22 at the Magnani Rocca Foundation villa, near the city of Parma. News of the heist was only made public on Sunday and, according to the outlet Wanted in Rome, the museum remained open to the public after the heist took place.
The paintings stolen were Renoir’s Les poissons (“Fish”), an oil painting on canvas created around 1917; Tasse et plat de cerises (“Still life with cherries)” by Paul Cézanne, a watercolor dating from 1890; and Odalisque sur la Terrasse (“Odalisque on the Terrace”) by Henri Matisse, an aquatint on paper from 1922. All three paintings, collectively worth over $10 million, were stolen from the museum’s “French Room” on the upper floor in what is being reportedly described as one of the most significant art thefts in Italy in recent years — and occurs months after October’s broad daylight robbery of the Louvre in Paris.
The masked robbers forced opened the museum’s main door, broke in, and stole the three paintings within three minutes. The BBC reports that the robbers were only interrupted by the museum’s alarm, which prevented them from stealing more works of art.
The museum reportedly said in a statement that the thieves acted “not on the spur of the moment, but as part of a structured and organized operation.” According to the organization, there is talk of “an evident, planned functional division of labor in the serious criminal acts, which, however, were not carried out due to the activation of security systems and thanks to the extremely prompt intervention of internal security, the Carabinieri, and the security firm, to whom our sincerest thanks go for their courage and swift action.”
Sky TG24 described the Magnani-Rocca Foundation as one of Italy’s most important artistic institutions. The Villa dei Capolavori, (“Villa of Masterpieces,”) located in Mamiano di Traversetolo, houses the art collection of the critic, musicologist, and writer Luigi Magnani (1906–1984): works by Titian, Dürer, Rubens, Goya, Canova, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Burri, and the most significant collection of works by Giorgio Morandi.
The Parma Carabinieri are investigating the theft in collaboration with members of the Carabinieri’s Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, which specializes in art theft. Per Rai News, investigators obtained footage from the video surveillance system.
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