Thieves bypass security to steal four Renaissance artworks from Sicily museum

Thieves have stolen four artworks by Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina worth millions of euros from the regional museum in the city of Messina in Sicily, Italian cultural officials have said.

The thieves stole three of the five surviving panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych, dated to 1473, as well as the double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and the dead Christ in Pietà, which was removed from an armored display case, local media reported.

They removed all five panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych from their frame, but left two behind a wall while fleeing.

The heist took place as crowds gathered across town for the traditional Assumption holiday celebrations.

MuMe museum director Marisa Mercurio told local media outlet ANSA news that the theft took place just before 10 pm, at a time when guards were on site and the alarms and security systems were working.

Art expert Alberto Fiz estimates the value of the stolen works to be between €70 million and €80 million.

“We are devastated by what happened. They were two of Antonello da Messina’s most important and best-known works. It is a tremendous loss for the museum, the city, the community and the art world,” Mercurio said, describing the works as central to the region's heritage.

“These are not merely works by Antonello da Messina,” she told Sky TG24. “They are works that hold considerable significance in terms of our identity, as well as, of course, their artistic and cultural value, because they are works by our very own Antonello da Messina.”

Messina’s top culture official Enzo Caruso said the theft was “more than a loss” and “a disaster.”

“Messina without Antonello is deprived of the very essence of the greatest artist of the European Renaissance,” Caruso told Sky, calling for the swift recovery of the stolen works.

Caruso added that international interest in Antonello da Messina had intensified since Italy’s Culture Ministry acquired his devotional painting “Ecce Homo” for $14.9 million through negotiations with Sotheby’s in New York in early 2026.

Lynda Albertson, an art-crime analyst, said the works are instantly recognisable, impeding any effort to sell them through reputable channels.

The museum was closed Sunday while investigators gathered evidence.

The Ferragosto holiday, which marks the feast of the Assumption of Mary every 15 August, takes place at the height of the Italian summer holiday season. It was being celebrated in Messina with a procession in the main Piazza Duomo around the time of the heist.

The theft comes just days after police in the northern Italian city of Parma announced that they had recovered three stolen artworks by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse worth about €10 million euros. Five people have been detained in relation to that theft from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Parma.