Italian police recover stolen Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse paintings worth over €9 million
Italian Carabinieri recovered three paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse stolen in March from the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma, detaining five Moldovan suspects.
The heist
On the night of March 22-23, thieves broke into the Fondazione Magnani Rocca in Mamiano di Traversetolo, about 20 kilometers from Parma, and made off with three paintings by French masters. Surveillance footage released by police on August 14 shows two masked burglars wearing headlamps entering through a window, rushing into a hall, removing three paintings from the wall, and passing them to a third person who stayed outside and was not visible on camera. The entire operation took less than three minutes. The thieves had used a tractor to break open the museum gate and escaped through the museum gardens. The burglars appeared to know exactly where the target paintings hung, heading directly to the correct room.
The foundation said at the time that a structured and organized gang was responsible for the theft, which the alarm interrupted. The museum stated the crime did not proceed further thanks to the surveillance system and the rapid intervention of police and security.
The recovery
On Friday, August 14, Carabinieri from the Parma Provincial Command and the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit recovered all three paintings during searches ordered by the Parma Public Prosecutor's Office. The artworks were found in a cardboard box in a hallway closet at the home of one of the suspects. Parma police chief Andrea Pagliaro announced the recovery on August 14.
Five people, all from Moldova, were detained. They are accused, among other charges, of criminal association aimed at thefts. In total, nine Moldovan citizens are under investigation, with five believed to have participated directly in the museum heist. The suspects live in the Parma region and are also suspected of burglaries at homes and businesses. Other stolen objects worth thousands of euros were found in the house alongside the paintings.
The paintings
The three recovered works are "Tasse et Plat de Cerises" ("Cup and Plate of Cherries") by Paul Cézanne, dated 1885-1887, valued at €6 million ($7 million); "Les Poissons" ("The Fish") by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, dated 1917, valued at €3 million ($3.5 million); and "Odalisque sur la Terrasse" ("Odalisque on the Terrace") by Henri Matisse, dated 1922, valued at approximately €20,000 ($23,000). The total estimated value exceeds €9 million ($10.4 million). The Cézanne still life was executed in pencil and watercolor, and the Renoir is described as a late work by the artist.
- Cézanne 'Tasse et Plat de Cerises'
- 6 €M
- Renoir 'Les Poissons'
- 3 €M
- Matisse 'Odalisque sur la Terrasse'
- 0.02 €M
The investigation
Forensic experts recovered serial numbers from a pickaxe and a fire extinguisher left at the crime scene, despite the numbers having been removed. This allowed investigators to trace the items back to an apartment complex, leading to the suspects. Police described the investigation as complex. The Carabinieri investigation remains ongoing, with more information expected to be released later.
The museum
The Fondazione Magnani Rocca, established in 1977, houses the private collection assembled by the late art historian and music critic Luigi Magnani. The collection includes works by Titian, Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, Monet, Tiepolo, and Morandi, and is considered one of Italy's most important art collections. The theft followed a series of high-profile heists at European museums, including the theft in October of French crown jewels and other items worth €88 million ($101 million) from the Louvre in Paris.
