€9 million heist: Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse stolen from a museum in Italy
30 March 13:11
Three paintings by famous Impressionist artists were stolen from the private museum of the Magnani-Rocca Foundation near Parma. A police representative confirmed to AFP the reports of the theft, which had been widely reported by Italian media. According to their reports, the robbery took place a week earlier—on the night of March 22–23, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The stolen works include a late piece by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Fish”; a pencil and watercolor by Paul Cézanne, “Still Life with Cherries”; and a watercolor by Henri Matisse, “Odalisque on the Terrace.”
It is reported that the thieves, who concealed their faces with hoods, broke down the front door and fled through the garden with the masterpieces within three minutes. The Magnani-Rocca Foundation stated that this was a premeditated crime that “did not go further thanks to the video surveillance system and the prompt intervention of the police and security.” The estimated value of the stolen items is 9 million euros. An investigation is underway.
The foundation named after art critic and collector Luigi Magnani houses his collection of masterpieces, including works by Titian, Dürer, Rubens, and Goya. This private museum is one of Italy’s most important art collections.
The Louvre Heist
The theft of paintings from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation museum is not the only high-profile crime in the art world in recent months. On October 19, 2025, jewels belonging to French monarchs, worth a total of approximately 88 million euros, were stolen from the Louvre in Paris. However, as the robbers fled, they dropped Empress Eugénie’s crown, adorned with diamonds and emeralds.
Several people have been detained in connection with this case, and charges have been filed against some of them. However, the jewels themselves have not yet been recovered. It was reported that shortly after the robbery, the thieves attempted to initiate negotiations with the Louvre through an Israeli firm, offering to return the stolen items in exchange for money; however, the management of the French museum did not take advantage of this opportunity.
In November, a video allegedly filmed by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) began circulating online. It claimed that the stolen items had been found in the home of Ukrainian billionaire and former ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Timur Mindich, who is implicated in a corruption scandal surrounding “Energoatom.” However, a DW fact-check revealed that this video is a fake, partially generated by AI.
