Published on April 5, 2026
On March 22nd, thieves broke into the Magnani Rocca Foundation outside of Parma, Italy, stealing works , Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Paul Cézanne. Italian officials confirmed the robbery on March 30th, as reported York Times.
The stolen works included Renoir’s Les Poissons, an Impressionist painting of three fish on a platter; Cézanne’s Tasse et Plat de Cerises, a still life of a plate of cherries; and Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace, which portrays a nude woman playing the violin for a sleeping Sultan. The artworks are estimated to be worth about €9 million ($10.34 million), according to the Italian public broadcaster Rai. This figure has yet to be verified .
The Magnani Rocca Foundation was founded Luigi Magnani in 1977. Housed in a 19th-century villa in Mamiano di Traversetolo, Italy, the private art museum opened to the public in 1990. Its collection features works from notable artists such as Titian, Francisco de Goya, Anthony van Dyck, and Claude Monet. Despite the heist, the museum has remained open.
According to police reports, the thieves gained entry through the main entrance in the middle of the night using a crowbar. The entire operation took approximately three minutes, with the thieves fleeing through the museum gardens. Italian news outlet La Repubblica noted that the thieves left behind a fourth artwork, though its title has not been disclosed.
This robbery adds to a series of high-profile museum heists across Europe. Notably, in October of last year, thieves successfully broke into the Louvre in Paris, making off with more than €88 million ($100.83 million) worth of jewelry. In January 2025, a heist in the Netherlands involving explosives resulted in the theft of €4.3 million ($4.9 million) in gold artifacts from the Drents Museum.
Interpol has reported an increase in similar heists in recent years, attributing this trend to advancements in technology that facilitate the laundering of stolen property. “We’re in the smash and grab period, where criminals are taking sledgehammers and forcing their way through doors,” said Christopher Marinello, a lawyer and the chief executive of Art Recovery International. “You can break into anything in three minutes with a ski mask because the CCTV is going to capture what? Nothing.”
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