Several pieces from two works by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello de Messina have been stolen from the Interdisciplinary Museum of Messina (Sicily, south) by unknown perpetrators who managed to circumvent the center’s security system, local media reported this Sunday.

The event took place on the afternoon of August 15, a holiday throughout Italy, when “unknown individuals entered the exhibition halls, bypassing the alarm and security system and stole two works by Antonello da Messina,” according to the museum’s management.

The thieves took three of the five panels of the famous Polyptych of San Gregorio and another double-sided tablet depicting the Virgin and Child, which was stolen directly from a shielded security display case.

The extraordinary robbery was committed in the middle of the Ferragosto holidays (as the August 15 holiday is called in Italy) and at a time when the inhabitants of Messina were celebrating the “Vara,” a spectacular procession dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin.

Messina, furto al museo MuMe: rubate cinque opere attribuite ad Antonello da Messina, tra cui tre tavole del Polittico di San Gregorio e la tavoletta bifronte con la Madonna e il Cristo in pietà. Quest’ultima è stata prelevata dai ladri direttamente dall’interno di una teca… pic.twitter.com/ug4tQmGbv0

— Ultimora.net (@ultimoranet) August 16, 2026

The “Accasina” Regional Museum of Messina has closed this Sunday to the public while investigations are underway to reconstruct the event and identify the perpetrators of the robbery.

The Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, expressed in a statement his “consternation and regret” for the theft of these works by Antonello which, he says, are “of extraordinary value” for cultural heritage, while also conveying his confidence in the work of the security forces to clarify the event.

For her part, the director of the Regional Museum of Messina, Marisa Mercurio, stressed to local media that the stolen works are among the most important and recognized of Antonello da Messina, so their theft represents “a great loss for the museum, the city, the community, and the art world.”

The Messina Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the theft of these art pieces and it is suspected that it may have been committed by criminals operating in the black art market.

Antonello de Messina (Messina 1430-1479) was a master of the Italian Renaissance and one of the most important painters of the 15th century.

He is considered one of the introducers of oil painting in Italy and his paintings are very scarce, with barely forty preserved, which reinforces their historical and artistic relevance.

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