Four Antonello da Messina works stolen in Renaissance painter's hometown
The theft deprived Messina of parts of the painter’s only surviving hometown altarpiece and a small two-sided panel, museum officials said.
- On the night of August 15, a national holiday in Italy, thieves stole four artworks by 15th century painter Antonello from the Museo Regionale in Messina, Italian media reported citing the museum's directorship.
- The stolen items include three panels from the Polittico di San Gregorio, the only Renaissance work by the painter to remain in his native city, plus a small two-sided painting depicting the Virgin with Child and Christ.
- Originally destined for the Monastero San Gregorio, destroyed by Messina's 1908 earthquake, the altarpiece was the only work by the Sicilian painter to never leave his hometown. The two-sided painting was part of the Wilhelm Soldan collection, purchased by the Sicilian Region.
- Italian police recently recovered paintings by French masters Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri Matisse near Parma, though a museum official reached by Reuters stated they could not provide information on the current investigation.
- Born around 1430, Antonello trained in Naples, studying Provençal and Flemish artists whose influence shaped his works. He returned to Messina in 1457, where he worked until 1474, leaving a legacy central to the city's artistic identity.
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The works from the 15th century were painted by the artist Antonello da Messina.
The flight, committed Saturday evening in the painter's home town, includes three panels of the polyptych of Saint Gregory, dating from the 15th century. It was during the traditional celebrations in honor of the Virgin Mary.
While the city of Messina celebrated the feast of the Virgin Mary, the regional museum was robbed, and deprived of four works "of exceptional value", with the hand of the most Sicilian artist
A journalist navigates the site of the Messina Museum, which displays an image of the work of the early Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina, where three of the five panels belonging to the Polyptic of St. Gregory and the double-faced panel with the Madonna and Christ in Pietà, stolen from the Sicilian museum on August 15. Gregory Borgia/AP Thieves stole four works attributed to the Sicilian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina from a re…
Four works of Renaissance master Antonello of Messina were stolen Saturday evening in a museum of Sicily. The flight includes three panels of a 15th century polyptych. It was committed during the traditional celebrations of the city in honor of the Virgin Mary. - Italy: four works of "exceptional value" of the painter Antonello of Messina stolen from a museum (Culture, media and entertainment).
4 artworks of 17th century painter Antonello da Messina stolen from Italian museum
The theft has stripped Messina of parts of a rare Renaissance masterpiece that remained in the painter’s hometown, along with another Antonello da Messina work acquired by the Sicilian Region two decades ago.
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