Italian authorities announced on Friday that three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which were stolen from a museum near Parma in March, have been recovered. The Carabinieri officers, part of Italy’s cultural heritage protection unit, found the artworks in an apartment in Parma. Nine individuals from Moldova are now under investigation 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 these artworks exceeds €9 million ($14.4 million).
Video footage released by the police shows two masked burglars entering through a window, swiftly removing the paintings from the wall, and making a quick exit, all within a span of less than three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca, known for its private collection assembled by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, features works by artists such as Titian, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet.
The recovery of these stolen masterpieces marks a significant achievement in the ongoing investigation into the high-profile art heist.