In Italy, authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the Mafia was involved in the theft of paintings in Sicily – Reuters
In Italy, authorities are considering the possibility that the Mafia may be behind the theft of paintings by the early Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. The paintings disappeared from Castelbuono Castle in Sicily, and investigators are currently examining all possible scenarios surrounding the crime.
Enzo Caruso, the cultural affairs advisor for the city of Messina, speculated that the theft of four paintings by da Messina from the museum was orchestrated by organized crime groups, possibly the Mafia—given how lightning-fast the heist was, as well as the fact that such well-known paintings are not easy to sell even on the black market.
Caruso noted that it remains unclear how the criminals were able to remove the paintings from the exhibition so quickly—unless they had very detailed information about the museum.
According to him, these works by Antonello da Messina are so well-known that selling them—even on the black market—is nearly impossible. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the heist was orchestrated by the mafia—for example, to blackmail government authorities for their own gain, or to use the paintings as “currency” or “collateral” in certain criminal dealings.
He also finds it strange that the thieves did not take particular care to protect the paintings physically as they fled, whereas a “classic” art thief would have done so while carrying works worth tens of millions of euros.
The theft drew parallels to the 1969 robbery of a church in Palermo, when a famous Caravaggio painting disappeared. That incident was long linked to the Sicilian mafia clan Cosa Nostra.
Reuters reports this.
As a reminder, Italian police recovered the stolen paintings by Cézanne, Renoir, and Matisse.
