Theft - Finestre sull'Arte

Cagnes-sur-Mer: Break-in at the Renoir Museum—Four Works Stolen

The string of thefts that has recently plagued French museums shows no signs of stopping, and this time the victim was the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in southern France, dedicated to the Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who spent th...
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Antonello da Messina Without His Stolen Madonnas: Is the Italian Renaissance Being Truncated?

The Strait of Messina is unique in the world for its beauty and natural richness; it clearly surpasses the Bosphorus in quality of life, the Strait of Istanbul—which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is heavily trafficked, and unsuitable ...
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Theft at the MAK in Vienna: Queen Nazli of Egypt’s diamond necklace stolen

Another sensational heist has taken place at a museum: one of the most valuable pieces of jewelry in the collection was stolen from the MAK—Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. Two men, who entered the Viennese museum posing as ordinary visitors, made o...
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The “Impossible” Theft of Antonello da Messina: Who Knew About the Polyptych’s Securing Mechanism?

“It’s impossible. The mounting system of the panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych makes it impossible to remove them in the two or three minutes during which, according to press reports, the theft took place.” The response from Gian...
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Theft of a work by Antonello da Messina; a custodian is under investigation for perjury. Suspicions of a mole

There has been a significant development in the case of the theft of Antonello da Messina’s paintings, which occurred on the night of Ferragosto at the “Maria Accascina” Regional Museum in Messina. One of the four security guards on...
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Museum Thefts: Europol Sounds the Alarm—More Violence and New Criminal Networks

Museum thefts in Europe are changing in nature: long considered a form of crime against cultural heritage characterized primarily by discretion, planning, and the absence of physical violence, they now seem to increasingly rely on force, targeted att...
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Antonello's Theft: There Is a “Sicilian Issue” Regarding Protection and Surveillance

There is no “Messina case”; it is not “a Southern issue,” as stated by Claudio Strinati, president of the Higher Council for Cultural and Environmental Heritage. But it is indeed a Sicilian issue. The security system at the Na...
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Brazil: Eight Matisse Engravings Stolen from the São Paulo Library Have Been Recovered

In Brazil, eight valuable engravings by Henri Matisse (Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 1869 – Cimiez, 1954) from the Jazz series—stolen in December 2025 from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo—have been recovered by the S&atild...
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