Italian authorities announced on Friday the successful recovery of three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The artworks were stolen from a museum near Parma earlier in March. Carabinieri officers discovered the paintings in an apartment in Parma and initiated an investigation involving nine Moldovan individuals linked to the theft.
The stolen pieces, identified as 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. Art experts estimated the combined value of the paintings to exceed €9 million ($14.4 million).
A video released by the police depicted the swift theft, showing two masked burglars entering through a window, swiftly removing the paintings from the wall, and making a rapid exit in less than three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum is known for housing a private collection curated by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, featuring works by renowned artists like Titian, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet, among others.
