Four Renaissance masterpieces stolen from Sicily museum in art heist

Four Antonello da Messina works stolen in Renaissance painter's hometownFour works attributed to celebrated Sicilian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina have been stolen from a regional museum in Messina, Italian media reported Sunday, in a heist carried out during the country’s Ferragosto holiday.The theft took place Saturday evening at the MuMe regional museum, where the thieves reportedly bypassed alarm and security systems and escaped with four artworks.Among the stolen pieces were three of the five surviving panels of the “San Gregorio Polyptych,” dated to 1473, as well as a double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and the dead Christ in “Pietà.” The latter was removed from an armoured display case, according to Italian news agency LaPresse.Museum director Marisa Mercurio sai