Thieves steal four Renaissance works in Sicily Museum heist

Thieves stole four works attributed to Sicilian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina from a regional museum in Messina, Sicily, during the Italian Ferragosto holiday, the news agency LaPresse reported on Sunday, August 16.

According to LaPresse, the thieves bypassed alarm and security systems on Saturday, August 15, evening at the MuMe regional museum, making off with three of the five surviving panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych, dated 1473, as well as a double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and the dead Christ in Pietà, which was removed from an armoured display case.

"We are devastated by what happened. They were two of Antonello da Messina's most important and best-known works. It is a tremendous loss for the museum, the city, the community and the art world," MuMe director Marisa Mercurio told the ANSA news agency. She said the theft occurred just before 10 pm.

The theft comes months after the Italian government, in March, bought a devotional painting by da Messina titled "Ecce Homo" for $14.9 million from Sotheby's auction house in New York, a sale that raised the profile of the early Renaissance painter.

Lynda Albertson, an art-crime analyst and chief executive of the ARCA art crimes research association, said the works are instantly recognisable, which would make it difficult for the thieves to sell them through reputable channels.

"Stealing an Antonello may be far easier than selling one. If these are ordinary thieves, they will soon discover that, to their cost," Albertson told the Italian daily La Repubblica. She said such famous artworks often pass from one criminal to another, serving as collateral for other illicit activity.

The museum remained closed on Sunday, August 16, while investigators gathered evidence. Neither museum officials nor the Carabinieri could immediately be reached for comment.

The Ferragosto holiday, which marks the feast of the Assumption of Mary, falls at the height of the Italian summer holiday season.

The Messina heist comes days after police in the northern Italian city of Parma announced the recovery of three stolen artworks by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse, worth about $11.5 million. Five people have been detained in connection with the March 22-23 theft from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Parma province.

(Sourced through PTI)