Thieves have stolen three paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse worth millions of euros from a museum near Parma, police said Monday.The theft took place on the night between 22 and 23 March, when intruders forced open the entrance to the Magnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum located about 20 km from the city.The stolen works included Renoir’s “Fishes”, Cézanne’s “Still Life with Cherries” and Matisse’s “Odalisque on the Terrace”. Local media reported that the thieves carried out the operation within three minutes before fleeing through the museum’s gardens.Established in 1977, the museum houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani, which includes works by masters such as Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Francisco Goya and Claude Monet.Authorities suspect that an organized group was behind the theft, which was stopped by the alarm system. The museum has not issued any statement and was not available for comment as it is closed on Monday.The incident follows a series of high-profile art thefts across Europe, including the robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October, where the French crown jewels and other items worth €88 million were stolen.Art expert Claudio Strinati said the stolen artworks are relatively small in the artists’ extensive portfolios, but he warned that such thefts are often linked to extortion attempts. “Art theft may actually be carried out for the purpose of ransom,” he said.
