Italian authorities announced on Friday that three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which were stolen from a museum near Parma in March, have been recovered. Carabinieri officers discovered 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 Cézanne’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. The estimated value of the recovered artworks exceeds €9 million ($14.4 million).
Surveillance footage released by the police captured the swift theft, showing two masked burglars breaking in through a window, swiftly removing the paintings from the walls, and leaving the premises in under three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca houses a prestigious private collection assembled by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, featuring works by renowned artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet.
The recovery of these valuable artworks marks a significant breakthrough in the investigation into the daring museum heist that occurred in March.
