Four Antonella da Messina works stolen from Messina museum

Four works by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during an annual religious festival on the Feast of the Assumption in his native Sicilian city on Saturday. They were some of the only works by Antonello held in Messina. While hundreds of devotees and onlookers in Piazza Duomo were paying homage to the

The paintings by Antonello da Messina were taken under cover of a huge religious festival that sees 100,000 people flock to the city of Messina.

They removed all five panels of the 'San Gregorio Polyptych' from their frame, but abandoned two behind a wall while fleeing. An art expert estimated the stolen works at €70 million to €80 million.

They removed all five panels of the 'San Gregorio Polyptych' from their frame, but abandoned two behind a wall while fleeing. An art expert estimated the stolen works at €70 million to €80 million.

Four artworks by Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina have been stolen from the Museo Regionale in Messina, Sicily, overnight on August 15. The thieves took three panels from his Polittico di San Gregorio, depriving the city of part of the only surviving works by the painter still held in his hometown. Italian auth

The priceless art was stolen on the Ferragosto holiday, marking the feast of the Assumption of Mary, during the peak of the Italian summer season

Four artworks by 15th century painter Antonello da Messina have been stolen from a museum overnight according to Italy's culture minister.

Four works were taken during public holiday, the day after Italian police recovered paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse Four of the most important works of art by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina. Thiev

The works were taken overnight without alarms being triggered, raising suspicion of a professional hit.

Three panels from ‌Polittico di San Gregorio altarpiece and a separate painting depicting the Virgin with Child were taken from the Museo Regionale di Messina in the 15th-century painter's hometown.

The burglars struck at the MuMe regional museum in Messina where they made off with three of the remaining five panels that made up an altarpiece known as Polittico di San Gregorio

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

Local officials have expressed their dismay and sadness at the theft which occurred during celebrations of the Virgin Mary.

The thieves entered the museum on the night of August 15, a national holiday in Italy and the peak of the summer season, media said.

Four Antonello da Messina works stolen in Renaissance painter's hometown  Reuters

The thieves entered the museum on the night of Aug 5, a national holiday in Italy.

The three paintings, stolen from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum in March, are valued at more than $10.4-million

The three paintings, worth over US$10 million, had been stolen from a museum in Italy in under three minutes.