Volkswacht Bodensee - Italian police recover stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth 9 mn euros

The paintings were taken by masked thieves from the villa of the Magnani Rocca Foundation, near Parma in northern Italy, in a heist that lasted under three minutes.

Video footage released by the police showed two thieves wearing headlamps and with their faces covered entering the villa by breaking through a window.

They headed straight into the room where the three paintings hung and took them off the wall, before heading back to the window and passing them through to an accomplice waiting outside.

They made off with "Fish" by Auguste Renoir, "Still Life with Cherries" by Paul Cezanne, and "Odalisque on the Terrace" by Henri Matisse.

The Renoir is worth six million euros, the Cezanne three million and the Matisse some 20,000 euros, police said.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation -- 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Parma -- houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani, which also includes works by Durer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.

The theft is the latest in a series of robberies targeting major museums in Europe.

Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris -- the most visited museum in the world -- in broad daylight, escaping in less than eight minutes with jewellery worth $102 million.

R.Kloeti--VB