Antonello da Messina works stolen from Sicilian museum

Four of the most important surviving works by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen overnight from the Museo Regionale in the Sicilian port city of Messina, according to the Guardian and France 24. The theft occurred during Italy's Ferragosto national holiday on August 15, while the city held religious celebrations, the New York Times reported.

The thieves took three panels from the artist's Polittico di San Gregorio, depriving the city of part of the only surviving works by the painter still held in his hometown, France 24 reported. The BBC noted the works were taken without alarms being triggered, raising suspicion of a professional operation.

Local officials expressed dismay and sadness at the theft, which was described as a wound to the historical memory and cultural identity of Messina, the Guardian reported. Italian authorities have launched an investigation, according to CBS News.

The heist recalls the March theft of three French masterpieces from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum near Parma, which police recovered in August with five suspects detained, the Guardian reported. In that case, police released CCTV footage showing masked burglars entering through a window, and authorities said the gang had carefully planned the heist and was equipped to disable the museum's security systems, France 24 reported.

For Emilia-Romagna, the Parma recovery offered a recent precedent of successful art-theft investigations, with police in that region working with international partners to track the stolen Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse works across borders. The Messina theft, by contrast, has so far yielded no arrests, and the BBC reported that the absence of triggered alarms points to sophisticated planning.

Antonello da Messina is regarded as a pivotal figure who brought Flemish oil-painting techniques to Italy, and his works held in his hometown are considered irreplaceable, the New York Times reported. The Polittico di San Gregorio panels are among the few works by the artist still in Messina, making the loss particularly acute for the city's cultural patrimony, France 24 noted.

Italian authorities have not yet publicly named suspects or indicated a motive, according to the Guardian. The investigation is ongoing, with police examining whether the theft was commissioned by a private collector, CBS News reported.