Italian authorities have successfully located and retrieved three valuable paintings by renowned French artists Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which were stolen from a museum near Parma earlier this year. The Carabinieri officers discovered the stolen artworks in an apartment in Parma and are investigating nine individuals from Moldova in connection with the theft. The paintings, with an estimated value exceeding €9 million, were taken from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum in Mamiano di Traversetolo during the night of March 22-23.
The recovered pieces include Cezanne’s “Tasse et Plat de Cerises,” Renoir’s “Les Poissons,” and Matisse’s “Odalisque sur la Terrasse.” Police released a surveillance video showing two masked burglars swiftly entering through a window, removing the paintings from the wall, and fleeing the scene within three minutes. The Fondazione Magnani Rocca is renowned for its private collection, featuring works by various artists like Titian, Francisco Goya, and Claude Monet, assembled by the late music critic Luigi Magnani.