Italian
Three panels from the Polyptych of San Gregorio and a rare double-sided panel are still missing. Two panels, abandoned during the escape, have been recovered. The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating a theft that lasted only a few minutes.
MESSINA — A rapid incursion, carried out while the city was gathered around the Vara procession, struck at the heart of Messina’s artistic heritage. On the evening of Ferragosto, a gang broke into the Regional Interdisciplinary Museum of Messina, the MuMe named after Maria Accascina, and stole works attributed to Antonello da Messina: three of the five surviving panels of the Polyptych of San Gregorio and a small double-sided panel depicting the Madonna with Child on one side and Christ in pity on the other.
According to initial reports, the robbery occurred shortly before 10 PM on August 15. The thieves, at least three and with their faces covered, reportedly reached the museum through a side entrance, forcing a door after bending or tearing part of the fence. Once inside, they would have headed straight towards the rooms that housed the paintings. The action, captured by the cameras, would have lasted just two or three minutes.
Initially, all five panels that have reached us from the Polyptych were removed. However, two panels depicting Saint Benedict and Saint Gregory were abandoned along the outer fence and were found by some passersby, whose report to 112 triggered the intervention. Three panels from the 15th-century complex and the double-sided tablet, extracted from a secure case, remain missing.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Messina has opened an investigation against unknown persons for aggravated theft of works of art. The investigations involve the State Police and specialists from the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Investigators are analyzing surveillance footage, interviewing custodians and security personnel, and reconstructing the escape route of the gang. The checks carried out at the docks in the following hours have so far yielded no results.
It remains to be clarified how it was possible to carry out the raid despite the alarms, video surveillance, and security service. The Sicilian Region has announced internal checks, while investigators are considering multiple leads. Among these is the hypothesis of a commissioned theft intended for the black market: such well-known and recognizable works could not be sold through legal channels. However, this is an investigative scenario and not a conclusion already established.
The value of the loss goes far beyond any economic estimate. Signed and dated 1473, the Polyptych of Saint Gregory was created for the monastery of Santa Maria extra moenia on commission from the abbess Fabria Cirino. Originally, it consisted of six panels: in the center, the Madonna on the throne with the Child and angels holding a crown; on the sides, Saint Gregory and Saint Benedict; in the upper register, the Announcing Angel and the Announced Virgin. The central panel of the predella, probably dedicated to the dead Christ supported by angels, had already been lost over the centuries.
The work had survived dismemberment, invasive restorations, and the earthquake of 1908, which destroyed much of Messina and left the complex exposed to the elements. It was above all the only work by Antonello remaining in his hometown: a direct link between the master of the Renaissance, the local religious history, and the memory of a community that had been forced to rebuild its heritage multiple times.
No less precious is the double-sided tablet, probably intended for private devotion and dated by scholars between 1465 and 1474. Attributed to Antonello in 2003, it was purchased by the Sicilian Region at a Christie’s auction the same year. Its modest dimensions contrast with the enormous historical and artistic significance: two sacred images painted on opposite sides of a single support, designed to accompany personal prayer.
The Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli expressed “disbelief and sorrow” and assured the Ministry’s willingness to collaborate with the Sicilian authorities. Mayor Federico Basile described the theft as a blow to the memory and identity of the city; the museum director, Marisa Mercurio, spoke of a loss that concerns Messina, the community, and the art world.
The recovery of the two tablets that were abandoned represents a first positive signal, but it does not lessen the severity of the theft. Three tablets from the Polyptych of San Gregorio and the double-sided tablet remain missing. The incident has also reopened the debate on the effectiveness of security systems in museums. The priority for investigators is now to recover the still-missing works and return them to the Museum of Messina.
