Four Antonello da Messina Paintings Stolen From Messina Museum

Overview

• The Museo Regional Interdisciplinar de Messina was breached on Saturday night during Ferragosto and thieves took three of the five surviving panels of the Políptico di San Gregorio and a double‑sided Pietà panel from a reinforced vitrine.
• Security footage reviewed by investigators shows the raid lasted about two to three minutes and that the perpetrators bypassed the museum's alarm and protection systems before heading directly to the galleries with Antonello works.
• Two other panels from the polyptych were later found abandoned near the museum perimeter and the MuMe remains closed while prosecutors and the Carabinieri treat the case as qualified art theft and collect evidence.
• Museum director Marisa Mercurio said she was devastated by the loss of works that had rarely left Messina, and experts warn the paintings’ fame makes legitimate sale unlikely and raises the risk they will circulate as criminal collateral or hidden caches.
• Authorities have launched an active criminal probe led by Messina’s prosecutor Antonio D'Amato, and the theft has renewed calls for stronger security and faster national cooperation after recent recoveries of other stolen masterpieces in Italy.