Italian Heist: €9m worth of artworks stolen in three minutes

Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse valued at millions of euros have been stolen in a daring robbery at a museum near Parma, according to police.

Authorities say four masked men stormed the Magnani Rocca Foundation on March 22 and made off with three works: Les Poissons by Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Matisse. Reports indicate the group completed the operation in just three minutes and fled after triggering the museum’s alarm system, which likely stopped them from taking more.

The incident adds to a growing list of high-profile art thefts, coming months after a bold daytime robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Italian media report that the suspects broke through the main entrance of the Villa dei Capolavori, located in the countryside around Parma, and removed the paintings from the French Room on the first floor. The foundation described the group as organised and well-coordinated, suggesting they intended to steal additional pieces before the alarm forced them to retreat.

The thieves reportedly escaped by scaling a fence, according to regional broadcaster TGR, which first broke the story. The stolen works are estimated to be worth around €9 million (£7.8 million), with Renoir’s Les Poissons alone valued at €6 million, making it one of Italy’s most significant art thefts in recent years.

Renoir, a leading figure of the Impressionist movement, painted Les Poissons around 1917. Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries, created around 1890, is notable for its use of watercolour, a medium he adopted later in life. Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace (1922) portrays two figures, one reclining in sunlight while another holds a violin.

The case is now under investigation by Italy’s Carabinieri and the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit in Bologna. The Magnani Rocca Foundation, founded after the death of composer and collector Luigi Magnani in 1984, confirmed the theft, which only became public on Sunday.