In Sicily, four Renaissance treasures were stolen during a festival

The Italian Ministry of Culture announced on Sunday, August 16, the theft of four works by the Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina, stolen the previous evening from a museum in Messina, the artist's hometown, during the celebration of traditional festivals in honor of the Virgin Mary.

Three panels from a 15th-century polyptych were taken away.

The theft notably involved three panels from the Saint Gregory polyptych, created in the 15th century by Antonello da Messina, a major figure of the Italian Renaissance known for having helped spread the technique of oil painting in Italy. The mayor of Messina, Federico Basile, described the theft as a deeply reprehensible act, adding that it was all the more distressing because it had been committed during the city's traditional celebrations.

This burglary comes just months after the Italian state acquired, at auction in New York, another work by the same painter entitled Ecce Homo, for nearly $15 million, highlighting the exceptional value now accorded to the rare work of this 15th-century Sicilian artist.

A series of thefts that affect Italian heritage

This latest theft adds to an already long list of burglaries targeting Italian artistic heritage in recent months. Just two days earlier, Italian police announced they had recovered three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse, with a total value exceeding nine million euros, stolen in March from a museum near Parma by a suspected gang of Moldovan nationals.

Italian authorities have opened an investigation to try to recover the four missing works, whose exceptional value makes them particularly difficult to sell on the legal art market.