Italian museum loses 15th-century paintings
Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli announced that the Museo di Messina has been robbed of four fifteenth-century paintings by the artist Antonello da Messina, including a piece from the "Polittico di San Gregorio" that originally comprised six panels and is noteworthy as the only surviving work by this artist in his hometown. Additionally, a double-sided painting depicting the Virgin Mary and the Child, with a monk on one of the faces, was stolen; it was part of the "Wilhelm Soldan" collection. It is believed that the theft may be linked to the purchase of the artwork by the Italian state for $15 million earlier this year, which could have attracted the thieves’ attention. This theft comes days after Italian police recovered three paintings by prominent French artists that had previously been stolen, highlighting the vulnerabilities in safeguarding valuable artworks in museums and pointing to a rising trend of art thefts in Italy despite advancements in museum security technology.
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