Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse worth several million euros were stolen from a museum in Italy on the 22nd of March, the BBC reports.
Police said that on the 22nd of March, four masked men entered the Villa of Magnani Roca Foundation and stole one painting each by Renoir, Matisse and Cézanne. The thieves carried out the theft in just three minutes, and only the museum’s alarm system was activated to prevent them from stealing more works of art.
Italian media reported that the thieves entered the villa in the Parma countryside through the main door and took the paintings from the French Hall on the first floor of the building. The foundation reported that the gang appeared structured and well-organized, and that
they had planned to steal more artworks if the alarm had not been activated and the police had been called.
According to local public media TGR, the thieves escaped by jumping over a fence.
The total value of the stolen paintings is estimated at around nine million euros, with the Renoir painting alone worth six million euros. This makes it the most impressive art theft in Italy in recent years.
The theft is currently being investigated by the Italian Carabinieri and the Bologna Cultural Heritage Protection Unit, and the wider public was only officially informed of the theft on the 29th of March.
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