Sicilian museum hit by €80 million art theft

Three works by Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina, valued at up to €80 million, were stolen from a museum in Messina, Sicily. The heist occurred on Saturday while the town was celebrating Assumption Day and included several panels of the San Gregorio altarpiece.

According to art expert Alberto Fiz, as reported by Live Mint, the value of the stolen works is estimated to be between 70 million euros and 80 million euros. The thieves removed all five panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych from their frame but abandoned two behind a wall while fleeing, as reported by Le Monde English.

The police are investigating the theft, which comes days after Italian authorities recovered three stolen works by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse, according to France 24.

Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, The Art Newspaper, Live Mint, Le Monde English — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.