Overview
- Thieves entered the Museo Regionale di Messina during the Ferragosto holiday night of August 15 and removed three of the five surviving panels of the 1473 San Gregorio Polyptych.
- A fourth work taken was a documented double-sided devotional panel from the Wilhelm Soldan collection that was sold via Christie’s to the Sicilian Region in 2003 when it was attributed to Antonello da Messina.
- Museum director Marisa Mercurio said the theft occurred just before 10 p.m. and described the loss as devastating, and the museum was closed while investigators collected evidence.
- Italy’s Carabinieri art-recovery unit has opened a preliminary probe but no suspects or arrests have been publicly announced as of the latest reports.
- Experts warn the paintings’ fame and clear provenance will make legitimate resale difficult, increasing the chance they circulate in criminal networks or are used as illicit collateral and complicating prospects for a quick recovery.