Italian authorities announced the retrieval of three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which were stolen from a museum close to Parma earlier this year. The Carabinieri officers discovered the artworks in an apartment in Parma and have initiated an investigation involving nine Moldovan individuals regarding the theft incident.
The paintings, 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, near Parma, during the night of March 22-23. Art experts estimate the combined value of the recovered paintings to exceed €9 million ($14.4 million).
Footage released by the police depicts two masked burglars swiftly entering through a window, removing the paintings from the wall, and exiting the premises within a remarkably brief operation that lasted less than three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca is renowned for housing a private collection curated by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, featuring works by notable artists like Titian, Francisco Goya, Claude Monet, and Giorgio Morandi.
The successful recovery of these stolen masterpieces marks a significant victory in the realm of art crime investigation and restoration efforts.