Italian authorities have launched an investigation after a brazen museum heist saw masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse stolen from a private collection near Parma.
Police said four masked men stormed the Magnani Rocca Foundation villa on March 22, making away with three high-value works: Les Poissons by Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Matisse.
The operation, described as swift and highly coordinated, lasted just three minutes. Reports from Italian media indicate the gang was interrupted by the museum’s alarm system, forcing them to flee before taking additional artworks.
The suspects reportedly forced entry through the main door of the Villa dei Capolavori, located in the Parma countryside, before heading directly to the French Room on the first floor, where the paintings were displayed. They later escaped by scaling a perimeter fence, according to regional broadcaster TGR.
The stolen pieces are estimated to have a combined value of €9 million, with Renoir’s Les Poissons alone believed to be worth around €6 million, making the incident one of Italy’s most significant art thefts in recent years.
Officials at the foundation described the perpetrators as “structured and organised,” suggesting the heist may have been carefully planned, with intentions to steal more works before the alarm system was triggered.
The theft adds to a growing list of high-profile art crimes across Europe, coming months after a bold daylight robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Italy’s military police, the Carabinieri, alongside the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit in Bologna, are now leading efforts to track down the suspects and recover the stolen masterpieces.
