Art Thieves Steal Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse Worth More Than $10 Million, Fleeing the Scene in Just Three Minutes

The Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Italy was the target of a shocking art heist—only five months after a high-profile theft at the Louvre in Paris

Michele Debczak - Correspondent

March 31, 2026

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A private museum in the northern Italian countryside was the target of the latest high-profile heist to shake the art world. Despite a quick response from law enforcement, the thieves successfully made off with a haul worth millions: three masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse.

The four hooded suspects entered the Magnani-Rocca Foundation near the city of Parma on the night of March 22 as part of a “structured and organized” robbery, the museum’s lawyer tells CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau. They reportedly broke in through the front entrance and escaped through the museum gardens after triggering the security alarm. The heist lasted just three minutes.

The three missing paintings include Renoir’s Les Poissons, Cézanne’s Still Life With Cherries and Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace. According to BBC News’ Aleks Phillips, the stolen art is estimated to be worth more than $10 million. Authorities think the criminals’ original plans were cut short, as they left behind a fourth piece while fleeing the scene, per La Repubblica’s Caterina Giusberti.

Italy’s Carabinieri and the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Bologna are in charge of the investigation. So far, no arrests have been made in the case.

This latest museum heist comes just five months after a group of thieves stole eight French crown jewels from the Louvre in broad daylight. Several suspects in that case have since been arrested, but the location of the jewels—worth more than $100 million—is still unknown.

Similar to the Magnani-Rocca Foundation theft, the Paris heist was quick and organized, with the thieves getting in and out of the museum in just seven minutes. Lawyer Christopher Marinello, the founder of Art Recovery International, tells the Art Newspaper’s Gareth Harris that the Magnani-Rocca Foundation thieves “learned from the Louvre theft that they can get into any museum if they cover their faces and move quickly enough. Museums need to start thinking about the possibility of the three-minute theft.”

The Magnani-Rocca Foundation is home to one of Italy’s most impressive private art collections, with works spanning the Renaissance to the present day. It was founded in a rural villa in 1977 to maintain the private collection of art historian Luigi Magnani and has since opened to the public. In addition to the French pieces that were targeted in the heist, it houses works by Peter Paul Rubens, Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya and Claude Monet.

Of the three stolen paintings, the most valuable is thought to be Renoir’s Les Poissons, a 1917 Impressionist artwork depicting a plate of three fish. Italian news media estimates that it’s worth nearly $7 million, accounting for a majority of the haul’s value, per BBC News.

While organized heists appear to be a growing threat to museums, the question of how lucrative they are for the criminals remains unclear. Unlike other types of loot, stolen masterpieces are difficult to sell without attracting the attention of the authorities. 

“It’s not the right crime to be committing if you want to make your millions,” retired FBI special agent Ronnie Walker tells CNN’s Victor Blackwell. “It’s hard to move these paintings. These are major artists; these paintings are well publicized. [The thieves] are going to have a real difficult time monetizing them.”

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Michele Debczak is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She appears in seasons four through six of History Channel’s “The Food That Built America,” and her work has been featured in Mental Floss, IndieWire, Eater and Vice.