Two paintings with a value of more than 9 million euros are stolen at the Renoir Museum

BarcelonaNew blow to artistic heritage in France. Two individuals broke in to rob this Tuesday shortly before six in the morning at the Auguste Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, and fled with four paintings from the museum. The loot, according to municipal sources, could be valued at about 9 million euros.

The museum's alarm was triggered exactly at 5:48 AM and the police response was practically immediate: in only five minutes, municipal police officers were already at the scene. Video surveillance cameras captured the suspects and a police chase began, during which the thieves, who were able to escape, discarded two of the paintings. The two stolen paintings are Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Young Woman at the Well (1886), two works that were recovered in Germany after the Second World War. Both are from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, which had them on loan at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer. The recovered paintings are Coco Reading (1905), which is a portrait of the painter's son, and Portrait of Madame Stephen Pichon (1895), both also coming from the Musée d'Orsay.

The French police's department for the fight against organized crime and specialized delinquency (DCOS) has taken charge of the investigation and maintains a wide search operation to locate the thieves.

The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, has strongly condemned the assault through social media. "Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of our city," said Masson. The mayor has described the events as "particularly serious" and has requested the urgent implementation of a security plan for cultural facilities in the area.

The museum was the last residence of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the place where he died in 1919. Created in 1960, the museum's halls contain a dozen original paintings by the impressionist master, about forty sculptures, as well as documentary collections, photographs, and personal tools of the artist.

This new robbery comes almost a year after the one that took place at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where a gang managed to take away jewels of incalculable value. A few months ago, Europol published a report warning of a changing trend in Europe. If until now they were used to thieves who study how to take the loot with total discretion and without confrontations, the European police coordination agency warned that there is a new generation of museum robbers who do not hesitate to use force.