News

Theft of Antonello da Messina’s Works: AStArte Highlights Security Flaws

The theft of the three surviving panels from the San Gregorio Polyptych and the double-sided panel by Antonello da Messina did not come as a surprise tothe National Association of Art Historians, which issued a statement on the matter. President Silv...
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Farewell to Mary Heilmann, a painter of contemporary American abstract art

She passed away on August 14, 2026, at the age of 86, following complications from a fall, Mary Heilmann, one of the most significant figures in contemporary American abstract painting, whose body of work helped profoundly renew the relationship betw...
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Viterbo: The Marian Chapel of the Former Church of Santa Maria delle Fortezze Has Been Restored—New Discoveries

On the Feast of the Assumption, new and surprising discoveries are drawing attention back tothe former church of Santa Maria delle Fortezze in Viterbo, formerly known as Santa Maria Annunziata and later as San Francesco di Paola. The church was built...
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Theft at the Regional Museum of Messina: Two Works by Antonello da Messina Have Already Been Recovered

Two of the works by Antonello da Messina that were stolen on the evening of Saturday, August 15, around 9:50 p.m., from the MuMe—“Accascina” Regional Museum in Messina, have already been recovered. The works are panels depictingSt. Benedict andSt. Gr...
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Serious Theft in Messina: Paintings by Antonello da Messina Stolen from the Regional Museum

A very serious theft occurred on the evening of Saturday, August 15, at the “Accascina” Regional Museum in Messina. Unknown individuals managed to break into the museum’s galleries by bypassing the alarm system and the security measures i...
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Works by Cézanne, Renoir, and Matisse stolen from the Magnani Rocca have been found in a storage room in Parma

New details are emerging about the theft of three works by Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri Matisse stolen on the night of March 22–23 from the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano di Traversetolo ( Parma) and recovered today ...
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The three works stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation last March have been recovered

The three works of art that had been stolen from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Mamiano di Traversetolo ( Parma) on the night of March 22–23 have been recovered: they included a painting by Paul Cézanne, *Tasse et plat de cerises* ( “S...
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Van Gogh and His Signatures: The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Reveals What They Tell Us in Its First Systematic Study

Over the course of his ten-year artistic career, Vincent van Gogh signed a surprisingly small number of paintings: of his 840 known works, only 133 bear his signature, accounting for about 15%. This finding comes from the first systematic study of th...
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The Vittoriale is launching an Art Bonus project to repair storm damage. Estimated cost: over 5 million euros

Following the exceptional weather event that struck the Vittoriale degli Italiani monumental complex in Gardone Riviera on July 17, 2026, the Foundation has launched a new project underthe Art Bonus program, with the goal of raising funds for restora...
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U.S.: Federal Appeals Court Halts Trump's Ballroom Project at the White House

, a federal appeals court—the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit—ruled last Friday that U. S. President Donald Trump, does not have the authority to build the $400 millionballroom within the White House complex without congre...
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Three works by Banksy cost London taxpayers nearly 175,000 euros

What about the works Banksy has left on the streets of England in recent years? From 2024 to the present, three works on public property by the famous Bristol-based street artist have cost British taxpayers 150,000 pounds—about 175,000 euros—for remo...
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Sicily: The Region Will Add the Position of Art Historian to Its Staff

TheSicilian“ ” Region will include the position of“ ” (Historian of Art) inthe administration’s new“ ” Professional Matrix. This was reported by the *Gazzetta del Sud*, after AStArte—the National Association of Art Historians—together with SISC...
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Museums: The Ministry of Culture Launches a Call for Applications for the New Director General

The Ministry of Culture is seeking a new Director General of Museums: in a circular dated August 3, the MiC announced the launch of the selection process aimed at filling the senior management position of Director of the General Directorate of Museu...
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Ukraine: Russians Destroy One of the Country's Oldest Cossack Wooden Churches

A Russian drone strike destroyed an important monument in Ukraine: the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin in Beryslav, in the Kherson Oblast. The building, dating back to 1725, was one of the oldest surviving examples in Ukraine of 18th-century...
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The "Triumph of the Rosary" from the Vatican Museums Rediscovered Thanks to... Jennifer Lopez!

Sometimes all it takes is a photo on Instagram to change the way we view a work of art. That’s exactly what happened with Jennifer Lopez, who—during her vacation in Italy—shined a spotlight on a detail of Italy’s artistic heritage that is...
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Farewell to Maria Rita Cerilli, Head of Communications at the Guggenheim Collection in Venice

Maria Rita Cerilli, head of the Communications Department at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, has passed away at the age of just 46. Having been ill for about a year and a half, Cerilli was a leading figure in Italian museum communications ...
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