Stolen paintings worth millions of euros recovered in three minutes
Italian police have recovered three works by French artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse that were stolen from a private museum near Parma in March. The paintings, valued at millions of euros, came from the home of one of the suspects in the case.
**Stolen artworks worth millions of euros recovered in three minutes**
Italian police have recovered works by French artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse that were stolen from a museum in the north of the country in March.
The stolen artworks were found in the home of one of the suspects in the case, Parma police chief Andrea Pagliaro said on August 14. Nine Moldovan nationals are being held as suspects in the investigation. According to preliminary information, five of them may have been directly involved in the theft of the paintings.
The works found are Renoir's "Fish" (estimated market value of 3 million euros), Cézanne's "Still Life with Cherries" in pencil and watercolor (estimated market value of 6 million euros), and Matisse's watercolor "Odalisque on the Terrace" (estimated market value of 20,000 euros). Thus, the total value of the three works found exceeds 9 million euros.
The paintings were stolen at the end of March from the private collection of the Luigi Magnani Foundation, an art critic and collector located near Parma. The Magnani-Rocca Foundation Museum houses rare examples of European fine art, including works by famous artists such as Titian, Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens and Francisco Goya. The museum is one of the most important private art collections in Italy.
According to earlier reports, hooded thieves broke open the museum's entrance. They were inside for just three minutes and stole three valuable works. After the robbery, the Magnani-Rocca Foundation called the incident a well-planned crime. According to the foundation, the video surveillance system and the prompt action of the police and security services prevented the criminals from taking other valuable works from the museum.