Four works by Sicilian Renaissance master stolen from Messina museum

Thieves stole four paintings from a museum in Messina, Sicily, while the town was celebrating Assumption Day on Saturday. The stolen works include several panels of the San Gregorio altarpiece by Antonello da Messina.

The paintings are estimated to be worth almost $US100 million, according to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. An art expert, Alberto Fiz, valued the stolen works at 70 million euros ($81 million) to 80 million euros ($92 million), as reported by Live Mint.

The heist occurred during an annual religious celebration on the streets of Messina.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Art Newspaper, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Live Mint — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.