Stolen artworks by Cézanne, Matisse and Renoir recovered by Italian police

9 people under investigation in connection with theft from museum near Parma in March

Italian police have recovered three paintings by French masters Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that were stolen from a museum near the northern city of Parma in March, officials said on Friday.

Carabinieri officers from Italy's cultural heritage protection unit found the works of art in an apartment in Parma, AGI news agency reported, adding that nine Moldovan nationals had been placed under investigation over the theft.

The paintings were taken from the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum in Mamiano di Traversetolo, near Parma, during the night of March 22-23. Art experts said their estimated value exceeded €9 million ($14.4 million).

The recovered works are Cezanne's Tasse et Plat de Cerises, Renoir's Les Poissons and Matisse's Odalisque sur la Terrasse.

Police on Friday released a video of the theft, showing two masked burglars entering via a window, grabbing the three paintings off the wall and then immediately exiting the building, in an operation that took less than three minutes.

The Fondazione Magnani Rocca houses a private collection assembled by the late music critic Luigi Magnani, including works by Titian, Francisco Goya, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Claude Monet, Peter Paul Rubens and Giorgio Morandi.