Italian authorities have successfully retrieved three valuable paintings by French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that were stolen from a museum near Parma in March. The Carabinieri officers discovered the artworks in an apartment in Parma and have initiated an investigation involving nine Moldovan suspects in connection with 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. Experts estimate the combined value of the recovered artworks to be over €9 million ($14.4 million).
Video footage released by the police captured the swift nature of the theft, with masked burglars entering through a window, swiftly removing the paintings from the wall, and making a swift exit in under three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum is renowned for housing a private collection amassed by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, featuring works by prominent artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet.