Renaissance paintings by Antonello da Messina stolen from Sicilian museum

Theft of four works on national holiday described as wound to historical memory and cultural identity of city of Messina Four of the most important works of art by the 15th-century Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen during a national holiday from a museum in the Sicilian port city of Messina. Thieves gained access to the Regional Museum of Messina, or MuMe, on Saturday evening, possibly capitalising on attention being focused on La Vara, a huge religious festival that takes place in the city on 15 August, when Italy marks the Ferragosto national holiday. Bypassing the alarm systems, the gang broke into a security display box and stole four wood panels painted by Antonello, who is widely credited with changing the course of Renaissance art. Thieves took three of the five surviving panels that made up an altarpiece known as the Polittico di San Gregorio, one of the Sicilian painter’s most important works. “It is an extremely serious and significant loss,” said Marisa Mercurio, the director of the museum. “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 re