Italian authorities have successfully retrieved three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that were stolen from a museum close to Parma earlier this year. The Carabinieri officers discovered the artworks in an apartment in Parma and have initiated an investigation involving nine Moldovan individuals linked to the theft.
The stolen paintings, including Cezanne’s “Tasse et Plat de Cerises,” Renoir’s “Les Poissons,” and Matisse’s “Odalisque sur la Terrasse,” were taken from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum in Mamiano di Traversetolo during the night of March 22-23. These artworks hold an estimated value exceeding €9 million ($14.4 million).
In a swift operation captured on video, two masked burglars entered the museum through a window, swiftly removed the three paintings from the wall, and made a quick exit in less than three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum, known for its private collection curated by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, features works by acclaimed artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Claude Monet, Peter Paul Rubens, and Giorgio Morandi.