Antonello da Messina Masterpieces Stolen from Sicilian Museum
Thieves have dealt a Sicilian museum a harrowing loss, stealing three of the five surviving devotional panels painted by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. The assailants broke into the Regional Museum of Messina, also known as MuMem, on Saturday evening, as the port city celebrated the Ferragosto national holiday. Evading the museum’s security system, they took three wood panels that once composed a six-piece altarpiece known as the Polittico di San Gregorio, a seminal work within da Messina’s oeuvre and art history. A fourth, smaller work, depicting the Virgin and Child attended by a Franciscan monk on one side and Christ on the other, was also taken. Related Articles “It is an extremely serious and significant loss,” Marisa Mercurio, the director of the museum, told the Guardian. “They have stolen works of enormous cultural, artistic and symbolic importance, not only for Messina but for Sicily as a whole. All we can do now is hope they are recovered as soon as possible.” Authorities found two of the five altarpiece panels abandoned against a wall outside …
