Antonello da Messina Masterpieces Stolen from Sicilian Museum
On August 15, coinciding with Assumption Day festivities, intruders infiltrated the Museo Regionale di Messina in Sicily, making off with four artworks by Antonello da Messina. Among the stolen items were five wooden panels from the Polittico di San Gregorio (1473), with two panels featuring St Benedict and St Gregory left behind outside the museum. Additionally, a small double-sided painting from the Wilhelm Soldan collection was taken. The alarm was activated when the thieves broke the display cases, and surveillance footage revealed that the entire operation took only two to three minutes. Christopher Marinello from Art Recovery International remarked on the diversion caused by the Festa della Vara procession, while museum director Marisa Mercurio and Italian culture minister Alessandro Giuli expressed their disappointment.
Key facts
- Four works by Antonello da Messina were stolen from the Museo Regionale di Messina on 15 August.
- The thieves took five wooden panels from the Polittico di San Gregorio (1473) but abandoned two panels depicting St Benedict and St Gregory outside the museum.
- A small double-sided painting from the Wilhelm Soldan collection was also stolen from a secure display case.
- The alarm system was activated, and surveillance footage shows the theft took between two and three minutes.
- The theft occurred during Assumption Day celebrations, including the Vara procession.
- Christopher Marinello compared the theft to the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner heist.
- The Italian state purchased a Messina work for $15m earlier this year.
- The National Gallery in London has five Messina works in its collection.
Entities
Artists
- Antonello da Messina
- Caravaggio
- Paul Cézanne
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Henri Matisse
- Cézanne
- Renoir
- Matisse
Institutions
- Museo Regionale di Messina
- Monastero di San Gregorio
- Christie's
- Sotheby's
- Art Recovery International
- National Gallery in London
- Italian government
- MuMe – Museo Regionale Interdisciplinare di Messina
- Fondazione Magnani Rocca
- Regione Siciliana
- Ministero della Cultura
- Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturali
- ANSA
- La Sicilia
- Messina in Diretta
- Artribune
- Museo Regionale Interdisciplinare di Messina
- Procura di Messina
- Polizia di Stato
- Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale
- Museo Regionale Accascina Messina
- MuMe (Museo Regionale di Messina)
- MuMe museum
- Museo Regionale Accascina
- Museo regionale Accascina
- Accascina Regional Museum
- Church of San Gregorio
- Archeoclub d'Italia
- Magnani Rocca Foundation
- Sky News Italia
- Artlyst
- Regional Interdisciplinary Museum of Messina
- Italian culture ministry
- Ansa
- Louvre
Locations
- Messina
- Sicily
- Italy
- Venice
- Naples
- Boston
- New York
- Parma
- Viale della Libertà
- Roma
- Annunziata
- Paris