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Thieves Steal €80M Antonello da Messina Paintings

8/17/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Thieves stole four Antonello da Messina paintings worth up to €80 million from Messina’s MuMe museum on 15 August 2026.
They cut the Viale Annunziata fence, forced a side door and broke an armored case to steal a double-sided panel and three San Gregorio panels.
MuMe director Marisa Mercurio said the robbery happened just before 10 p.m. while alarms and guards were present.

History

Historical Context

On March 18 1990, two thieves posing as police stole 13 works from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a robbery the FBI later valued at about $500 million. The unsolved case exposed security weaknesses in major art institutions, a pattern that resurfaces in later museum thefts and fuels calls for stronger safeguards worldwide.

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Story summary

Thieves stole four Antonello da Messina paintings worth up to €80 million from Messina’s MuMe museum on 15 August 2026.
They cut the Viale Annunziata fence, forced a side door and broke an armored case to steal a double-sided panel and three San Gregorio panels.
MuMe director Marisa Mercurio said the robbery happened just before 10 p.m. while alarms and guards were present.

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