Millions of dollars worth of paintings by renowned artists including Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma, Italy, overnight on March 22, authorities confirmed Monday.
Four masked individuals breached the villa housing the foundation’s collection, making off with the artworks. Police spokesperson details remain limited as the investigation unfolds, but initial reports indicate the heist was completed in under three minutes, according to Italian news outlet Il Messaggero.
The stolen works include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Fish, Henri Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace, and Paul Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries. The combined estimated value of the paintings exceeds CAD$14.36 million, the BBC reported.
The thieves gained entry through a first-floor door and escaped through the museum gardens, circumventing a fence. Although the villa’s alarm and surveillance systems were active, they were unable to prevent the theft of the three paintings, Italian media reported.
In a statement released Monday morning on Facebook, the Magnani Rocca Foundation acknowledged the theft and stated it is cooperating fully with the Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and other relevant authorities. “This is a loss that affects everyone’s cultural heritage,” the foundation said.
Renoir completed Fish in 1917, late in his career, and the painting is valued at approximately CAD$9.6 million. Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries, created around 1890, is notable for its use of watercolour, a technique the artist increasingly employed towards the end of his life, according to the Magnani Rocca Foundation.
Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace, painted in 1922, depicts a reclining nude figure in the style of an “odalisque,” a term for a female slave or concubine within a Turkish harem.
The Magnani Rocca Foundation, established in 1977, houses the private art collection of the late art historian Luigi Magnani. The collection includes works by artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet.
The theft at the Magnani Rocca Foundation follows a similar high-profile art heist in Paris last October, where thieves breached the Louvre Museum and stole a collection of jewelry valued at approximately USD$102 million. The Paris heist involved the use of an electric ladder and grinders to access the Galerie d’Apollon, and the perpetrators escaped on motorbikes, authorities said.
Italian authorities have not released details regarding potential suspects or leads in the Parma theft. The Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage is leading the investigation, and no arrests have been made as of Monday afternoon.
