Thieves Bypass Security to Steal Renaissance Paintings in Sicily
Thieves stole four Renaissance paintings from a regional museum in Sicily late on 15 August, bypassing alarm and security systems to do so.
The paintings—three of the five surviving panels of a 1473 altarpiece polyptych and a double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ—were taken from the regional Regional Museum of Messina (MuMe) in Sicily. The double-sided panel was removed from an armored display case. The other two panels from the polyptych were removed from the artwork’s frame but left behind while the thieves fled, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The stolen works are worth between 70 million and 80 million euros ($81 million to $92 million). They are two of Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina’s best-known works.
The theft occurred just before 10:00 p.m., while large crowds elsewhere in Sicily were celebrating Assumption Day. The museum’s alarms were working, and guards were on site, said MuMe Director Marisa Mercurio. At least three masked people approached the museum. Post-incident review revealed that part of the perimeter railing near a side gate appeared bent or cut, and an exterior door was forced open, TIME reported. Investigators are looking at how the thieves bypassed the museum’s security system.
The thieves went straight to the rooms housing the Antonello works once they got inside the building, signaling that the art was targeted.
Art crime experts note that the thieves are unlikely to be able to profit much from the theft, since the works are so recognizable. More likely, they will use the artwork as collateral among criminal groups for other illicit activity or as leverage to avoid jail time if they run into trouble with law enforcement.
Other Art Crime News
It’s been a busy few weeks for art theft investigations. In a number of recent cases, stolen paintings and prints have been recovered. Here’s the rundown.
Italian authorities tracked down $10 million worth of paintings. In just 3 minutes, masked thieves stole works from Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in March. The artwork was worth an estimated 9 million euros ($10.3 million). The thieves were able to break in, grab the art, and escape before police arrived.
Investigators said they retrieved evidence at the scene that helped them track down the alleged perpetrators, including a pickaxe and fire extinguisher with their serial numbers removed.
On 14 August, Italy’s art recovery squad said in a statement that the paintings were found during searches in the Parma province and neighboring provinces. Five suspects were detained, and they are allegedly part of an organized crime group responsible for a string of thefts, CBS News reported.
Matisse works recovered in Brazil. Police recovered eight stolen illustrations by Henri Matisse on 13 August, months after armed men took them from a library in São Paulo. During the December 2025 heist, the men overpowered a security guard and two bystanders, then they took the eight Matisses and five works by Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari, The New York Times reported. The Portinari pieces have not yet been recovered.
One person was arrested at the apartment where the artwork was found.
Picasso print recovered after tenant eviction. In 2018, a framed print by Pablo Picasso was stolen from a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, art gallery. The print of a Torero—a bullfighter—was one of 30 and was appraised in 2018 to be worth between $35,000 and $50,000.
A Milwaukee landlord found the print while cleaning out an apartment after evicting a tenant. The landlord showed the print to an antique dealer friend who recognized it. Then the print was turned over to police. An investigation into the case is ongoing.
Picasso painting recovered during drugs bust. French police recovered a stolen portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter by Pablo Picasso during a drug trafficking raid in the suburbs of Paris in June.
“Officers from the Brigade des Stupéfiants, the French equivalent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, discovered the Picasso on June 15 at a property connected with a suspected drug dealer in the town of Champigny-sur-Marne. Along with the painting, police seized nearly 40 pounds of cannabis, €7,000 ($8,000) in cash, and €200,000 ($229,000) worth of luxury clothing,” according to ArtNet.
Six people were arrested during the raid, including a man who worked as a security guard at a Paris firm specializing in storing art and valuables. French media reports say that the man admitted to taking the Picasso from a Paris depot, but claimed he did so to expose weaknesses in the company’s security.
