Thieves make off with Renaissance artwork worth millions in museum heist

Four pieces of art were stolen from a regional museum in the city of Messina in Sicily in a brazen heist as the city celebrated a cultural holiday over the weekend. 

What we know:

The theft happened Saturday at the Regional Museum of Messina, located on the northern coast of Messina. Italian officials say thieves were able to bypass alarm and security systems and stole three of the five remaining panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych. They were also able to remove the double-sided panel that depicts the Virgin Mary and dead Christ in Pieta from an armored display case, according to LaPresse. 

Art expert Alberto Fiz estimates the stolen work to be worth anywhere between $81 million to $92 million in value. 

What they're saying:

Art crime analyst Lynda Albertson spoke of the recognizable work and effort it took to take it, saying "Stealing an Antonello may be far easier than selling one," Albertson said. "If these are ordinary thieves, they will soon discover that - to their cost." 

The museum director Marisa Mercurio said the alarms in the museum were operational and there were even guards on site. 

Big picture view:

Cultural officials call the thievery and loss of the work a disaster, as Antonello is the "very essence of the great artist of the European Renaissance." The work was two of Antonello da Messina’s most important and well known works, according to Mercuio, who calls it a tremendous loss for the art world. 

International interest in the work of Antonello has gained momentum since Sotheby’s in New York assisted in the sale of his devotional painting "Ecce Homo" for $14.9 million to Italy’s Culture Ministry. 

The thieves join a small tribe of high-priced Italian art thieves, who also made off with a stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse in March of this year. Those works were recently recovered in the northern city of Parma. But it is not known if this is related or otherwise random. 

 

Crime and Public Safety