Italian authorities announced the recovery of three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that were stolen from a museum near Parma earlier this year. Carabinieri officers found the artworks in an apartment in Parma and have initiated an investigation involving nine Moldovan nationals 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 estimated the value of the recovered artworks at over €9 million ($14.4 million).
Video footage released by the police depicted two masked burglars entering the museum through a window, swiftly taking the three paintings from the wall, and making a quick escape in less than three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca is renowned for its private collection, curated by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, which includes works by artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Claude Monet, Peter Paul Rubens, and Giorgio Morandi.