Four masked people entered the villa of the Magnani Rocca foundation, in the Italian town of Traversetolo, and took three paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse on the night of Sunday March 22 to Monday March 23, a spokesperson for the carabinieri told AFP, confirming information from public television Rai. The thieves forced the main door, according to the carabinieri. They then fled through the museum grounds.
According to the Italian press, the thieves stole “The Fishes”, a late painting (1917) by Auguste Renoir, “Still Life with Cherries” (1885-1887) by Paul Cézanne and “The Odalisque on the Terrace” (1922) by Henri Matisse. The carabinieri are leading the investigation and using video surveillance images from the museum as well as neighboring homes and businesses, the spokesperson said.
The Magnani Rocca Foundation houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani (1906–1984), which also includes works by Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, Monet and the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. The museum could not be reached Sunday.
