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Police Recover €4.2M Renoir Paintings, Arrest Six Suspects

By Drooid · Oct 12, 2026, 5:13 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

French police recover Renoir

French police recovered two stolen Renoir paintings in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
The works, “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” (1910) and “Young Woman at the Well” (1886), were valued at €4.2 million.
The September 8 theft involved cutting a fence, smashing a window and using a saw.
Six suspects were arrested, with four facing organized-theft and criminal-association charges.
The recovery prompted renewed calls for stronger museum security across France.

Summary

Pégard lauds recovery

Six suspects were detained in coordinated raids across Alpes-Maritimes, Hérault and Jura departments.
The recovered paintings belong to Paris’s Musée d’Orsay and have been on loan to the Renoir Museum since 1995.
Culture minister Catherine Pégard called the recovery a “huge relief” and praised the investigators.
Mayor Masson thanked the Office Central de Lutte contre le Trafic des Biens Culturels for its assistance.

History

Historical Context

In August 1911 Italian glazier Vincenzo Peruggia walked into the Louvre, disguised as a worker, and stole the Mona Lisa, prompting a two-year police hunt that ended with the painting’s recovery in 1913. The scandal spurred French authorities to tighten museum security, a legacy reflected as police recover Renoir’s “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well,” reinforcing stricter safeguards for national treasures.

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French police recover Renoir

French police recovered two stolen Renoir paintings in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
The works, “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” (1910) and “Young Woman at the Well” (1886), were valued at €4.2 million.
The September 8 theft involved cutting a fence, smashing a window and using a saw.
Six suspects were arrested, with four facing organized-theft and criminal-association charges.
The recovery prompted renewed calls for stronger museum security across France.

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