Two Renoir paintings that were stolen from a museum in southern France last month have been recovered, and six suspects have been arrested in the case, the city where the theft took place said in a statement on Friday.
The artworks — a portrait of the French actress Colonna Romano, painted around 1910, and “Young Woman at the Well,” an oil painting from around 1886 — were stolen from a museum that is a former home of the Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the town of Cagnes-Sur-Mer.
The robbery, which the authorities said at the time was carried out by two people, was the latest in a series of brazen thefts from cultural and religious sites in France, including a heist in which royal jewels worth over $100 million were taken from the Louvre about a year ago.
The thieves at the Renoir museum initially took four paintings, but left two behind in the garden as they scrambled to evade the police, who arrived at the scene five minutes after the security alarm went off.
The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, said in the city’s statement, that the recovered paintings were “part of our city’s history, our cultural heritage and the legacy Auguste Renoir left to Cagnes-sur-Mer.”
“Their recovery is a tremendous relief for the people of Cagnes-sur-Mer and for everyone who cares deeply about our museum,” he added.
Catherine Pégard, the national culture minister, said on social media that the recovery was a “huge relief.”
“These paintings are part of our collective memory,” she said. “They will now be able to return to Renoir’s final resting place, a site steeped in history and dear to both residents and visitors from around the world.”
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