Museum thefts have become an unsettlingly familiar headline in Europe in recent years. The latest institution to fall victim is MuMe, the Regional Museum of Messina in Sicily.
On Saturday night, 15 August, as locals celebrated the Feast of the Assumption, thieves entered the museum and made off with four artworks by the Renaissance master Antonello da Messina (d. 1479). One of them appeared at auction more than two decades ago at Christie's London, where it sold for more than £250,000.
Authorities are pursuing four suspects, believed to have been wearing motorcycle helmets and black T-shirts during the heist. The museum has suggested the robbery may have been prompted in part by the Italian government's recent high-profile acquisition of another work by Messina.
The five surviving panels of Antonello da Messina's Polittico di San Gregorio (1473), three of which were stolen
15 August is Ferragosto, Italy’s most important summer holiday. With roots in ancient Rome, it originally marked a period of rest after the harvest and was later aligned with the Catholic Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
In Messina, Antonello’s hometown, the day is celebrated with La Vara, an hours-long procession in which a towering structure bearing figures of the Virgin, Christ and angels is pulled through the city.
It was during these celebrations that thieves broke into MuMe. Bypassing the alarm systems, they removed panels from an altarpiece known as the Polittico di San Gregorio (San Gregorio Polyptych), along with a double-sided painting from a display case.
Antonello da Messina is regarded as one of the key painters of the early Renaissance. He is best known for combining the meticulous realism of Netherlandish painting with the spatial perspective of Italian art, an approach that strongly influenced the Venetian school and Renaissance portraiture.
MuMe, the Regional Museum of Messina in Sicily
The San Gregorio Polyptych is the only surviving work by Messina that has never left his native city. Painted for a local monastery of the same name, it originally comprised six panels, one of which has long been missing.
Of the remaining five, the lower three depict the Virgin and Child, St Gregory the Great, and St Benedict, while the two upper panels together show the Annunciation – the moment when the Archangel Gabriel appears before the Virgin Mary to announce that she will bear the Christ child.
The double-sided panel is much smaller in scale, measuring just 15 by 10.7 centimetres. One side shows the Virgin and Child, while the other depicts Christ wearing the crown of thorns. It was sold at Christie’s London in 2003 for £250,000 and is believed to have been acquired by MuMe at that sale.
The double-sided panel had been auctioned at Christie's
The thieves initially removed six works but abandoned two polyptych panels against a low exterior wall nearby as they fled, leaving four still missing.
According to local media, the theft only came to light when a resident spotted the abandoned paintings and called the police, raising questions about possible weaknesses in the museum’s security system.
Valuations have varied wildly. Some outlets have quoted "art experts" estimating the loss at up to €70 million, though neither the museum nor mainstream media have put a firm figure on it.
Ecce Homo and Saint Jerome in the Desert, now housed in the National Museum of Abruzzo
In February, Sotheby's New York offered another two-sided panel by Messina, Ecce Homo and Saint Jerome in the Desert, with an estimate of US$10 to $15 million.
The work was ultimately withdrawn from auction and acquired by Italy’s Ministry of Culture in a private sale for US$14.9 million. It is now housed in the National Museum of Abruzzo in central Italy.
Surviving works by Antonello are exceptionally rare. Fewer than 40 paintings are generally accepted as autograph works, and most are held in public collections, making their market value difficult to assess. The museum has suggested that the high-profile government acquisition may have encouraged the thieves to target his works.