Thieves stole three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse worth millions of pounds from an Italian museum during a 180-second raid.
The brazen heist took place at a private museum near the city of Parma during the early hours of March 23, with thieves forcing open the entrance door, police said on Monday.
The three stolen paintings, worth an estimated £8.7million, are ‘Fish’ by Auguste Renoir, ‘Still Life with Cherries’ by Paul Cézanne, and ‘Odalisque on the Terrace’ by Henri Matisse.
They were on display at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum, which lies in the heart of the countryside, 12 miles from Parma.
Local media reported that the thieves were able to nab the paintings in less than three minutes and escape across the museum gardens.
They used crowbars to prise open metal bars that protected a back entrance to the gallery, which is housed in an elegant palazzo.
The thieves appeared to have known exactly what they were searching for and are believed to have likely made surveillance visits before carrying out the raid.
They headed to a room in the museum that is dedicated to French painters and made off with three of the masterpieces.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Les Poissons was among the three items stolen
Tasse et Plat de Cerises by Paul Cézanne was one of three works taken
Odalisque sur la Terrasse by Henri Matisse was also taken by thieves
During their escape, they set off the museum’s alarm system, and private security guards and police officers quickly arrived at the scene.
But by the time they arrived, the thieves had already made their exit through the gardens.
In their hurry, they left behind a fourth painting that hung on the gallery wall. This artwork has not yet been identified.
‘The criminals struck in less than three minutes, not in an impromptu manner but in a well-organised way,’ the museum said.
‘I think what has happened here is that criminals have learned that with skis and with speed – the raid took less than three minutes – you can do almost anything,’ Christopher Marinello, the founder of Art Recovery International, told The Telegraph.
He is now urging museums and galleries to rethink their security protocols after recovering stolen art worth more than £455million from around the world.
The expert said that despite the heist being well organised, he does not think they were stolen to be sold on to a private collector.
‘These guys are thugs who are just looking to steal big-name artists. They will then try to move the paintings to Belgium or Eastern Europe and find buyers in Russia or the Middle East, where there is less due diligence,’ he told the newspaper.
The paintings were on display at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum, which lies in the heart of the countryside, 12 miles from Parma
Italian Newspapers carry the news of the heist of three paintings, ‘Fish’ by Auguste Renoir, ‘Still Life with Cherries’ by Paul Cezanne, and ‘Odalisque on the Terrace’ by Henri Matisse, from a museum near Parma, northern Italy
Marinello explained that if the thieves were to sell the paintings, they would make only a fraction of their worth as no reputable dealer would purchase a stolen work.
Established in 1977, the foundation hosts the collection of the art historian Luigi Magnani and also includes works by Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, and Monet.
The museum believes a structured and organized gang was responsible for the theft, which was interrupted by the alarm, local media reported.
The crime in Parma comes after a series of high-profile heists at major European museums, including a major incident in October where thieves stole jewels and other items worth 88 million euros from the Louvre in Paris.
