Italian authorities announced on Friday that three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen from a museum near Parma in March, have been recovered. The Carabinieri officers discovered the artworks in an apartment in Parma, leading to the investigation of 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. The estimated value of the artworks exceeded €9 million ($14.4 million). Surveillance footage released by the police captured the swift theft, where two masked burglars quickly entered the museum through a window, removed the paintings from the wall, and fled within minutes.
The Fondazione Magnani Rocca, known for its private collection curated by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, houses a range of artworks by renowned artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, Claude Monet, and Giorgio Morandi. The recovery of these valuable paintings marks a significant achievement for the authorities and the art world.