Italian police recover stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth over $10 million

The theft is the latest in a series of robberies targeting major museums in Europe.(AFP) — Paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth more than $10.4 million that were stolen from a museum in Italy in March have been recovered, Italian police said Friday.The paintings were taken by masked thieves from the villa of the Magnani Rocca Foundation, near Parma in northern Italy, in a heist that lasted less than three minutes.Video footage released by police showed two thieves wearing headlamps and with their faces covered entering the villa after breaking through a window.They headed straight to the room where the three paintings hung and took them off the wall before returning to the window and passing them to an accomplice waiting outside.They made off with “Fish” by Auguste Renoir, “Still Life with Cherries” by Paul Cezanne and “Odalisque on the Terrace” by Henri Matisse.The Renoir is worth about $6.9 million, the Cezanne about $3.5 million and the Matisse about $23,000, police said.The Magnani Rocca Foundation — 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Parma — houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani, which also includes works by Durer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.The theft is the latest in a series of robberies targeting major museums in Europe.Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris — the world’s most visited museum — in broad daylight, escaping in less than eight minutes with jewelry worth $102 million.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads