Antonello da Messina heist 'may have been inside job'

The theft of four works by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina during an annual religious festival on the Feast of the Assumption in his native Sicilian city on Saturday may have been an inside job, Italian police said on Monday. The four parts of an altarpiece were some of the only works by Antonello held in Messi

The works, by Antonello da Messina, were taken as the Sicilian city of Messina held a religious celebration.

The Italian government in March bought a devotional painting titled “Ecce Homo” by da Messina for $14.9 million.