Thieves steal priceless Antonello da Messina masterpieces: why did they leave two of them on a wall outside the museum? And how is it possible that the guards didn't notice anything?
On the night of August 15, an as-yet-unidentified gang of thieves stole Antonello da Messina's Polyptych of San Gregorio and a double-sided panel depicting the Madonna and the Pietà, also attributed to the artist, both housed at the Regional Interdisciplinary Museum of Messina. The works, of inestimable artistic value and worth several tens of millions of euros, were removed from their supports, and the armored case protecting the panel was forced open.
Everything suggests a heist meticulously planned by a gang of experts, yet it remains unclear why two of the works were abandoned on a low outer wall of the museum during the getaway: the two polyptych panels depicting Saint Benedict and Saint Gregory the Great. These very works, spared by the thieves, could potentially contain clues useful for identifying them, and investigators are not ruling out any lead at this time.
The theft has further heightened attention on the issue of museum security, given that it emerged that, despite the alarm going off and the video surveillance system capturing the theft as it unfolded, the four security guards present at the site noticed nothing until a passerby reported having found the Antonello da Messina works propped against the low wall outside the museum.