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Four Renaissance paintings of “extraordinary value” have been stolen from a museum in Sicily, Italy’s culture minister has said.<\/b><\/p>\n
Alessandro Giuli confirmed that three panels of the Polyptych of San Gregorio and a double-sided panel of the Madonna with Child and Christ in Piet\u00e0, all attributed to Antonello da Messina, were taken Regional Interdisciplinary Museum of Messina on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Police are now probing how the thieves were able to enter the museum without triggering its alarms and who may have been responsible.<\/p>\n
The incident is the latest in a string of museum heists across Europe that have led to a growing number of priceless works disappearing from public view.<\/p>\n
Investigators are working on the initial suspicion that the paintings were stolen to order by black market art thieves, according to Italian news agency Ansa.<\/p>\n
It reported that the Madonna and Christ in Piet\u00e0 – which was briefly shown at the British Museum in 2016 – was removed directly from inside a secure display case, while all the paintings taken were on wooden panels, preventing them from easily being rolled up.<\/p>\n
The museum’s director Marisa Mercurio said the theft was thought to have occurred around 21:50 local time (19:50 GMT) on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“We are shocked by what happened,” she told Ansa, describing it as “a great loss for the museum, for the city, the community and the art world”.<\/p>\n
Antonello da Messina was a 15th Century painter born and raised on Sicily, who would go on to become one of the early Renaissance period’s master painters.<\/p>\n
His San Gregorio Polyptych, painted in 1473, depicts the Virgin Mary holding an infant Jesus Christ, flanked by St Gregory and St Benedict as well as several angels.<\/p>\n
The artwork, of which five panels survive, was commissioned for the monastery of Santa Maria.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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