Theft at the MuMe in Messina: two panels by Antonello da Messina found on a low wall. Sgarbi: inadequate security

Two of these bars, near the door through which the thieves are believed to have escaped, appear to have been widened, perhaps to allow a man to pass through.

“This theft was carried out by ignorant individuals, thieves who were unaware of the inestimable value of the works and who were convinced they could sell them on the market. They will not succeed, and I hope they will be recovered soon.”

This is what art critic and former Under-Secretary of State for Culture Vittorio Sgarbi had to say about the coup achieved at the MuMe in Messina, in an interview with *Il Messaggero* and *Qn*.

Speaking of the double-sided panel by Antonello da Messina, Sgarbi recalls that it was he “who attributed it to the Messina-born painter and persuaded the then Councillor for Culture of the Region of Sicily, Fabio Granata, to purchase it in 2003 at a Christie’s auction for 319,000 pounds, a sum that was actually lower than its true value”.

He argues that the stolen paintings may now be “at the thieves’ home, and it will be difficult for them to move them”.

Could there be a mastermind behind the heist? “In my long experience,” explains Sgarbi, “I have never come across thefts carried out on commission; it is always a case of the perpetrators overestimating their own abilities and lacking experience in the field. People who are convinced that, once the heist is over, they will be able to carry out transactions that are, in reality, impossible.”

Do you think there were security breaches at the museum? “There’s no doubt about it, because if the system had worked properly, the thieves wouldn’t have got away,” concludes the critic.