Miscellaneous news: A burglary attempt foiled at the Matisse Museum in Nice

Two people were arrested Monday evening within the premises of the Matisse Museum, in Nice, following an attempted break-in. A young adult and a minor are currently in police custody for “attempted theft”. The suspects failed to reach the rooms housing the artworks. This intervention occurs a few weeks after the burglary of the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where four paintings had been stolen.

The museums of Alpes-Maritimes are once again concerned by an attempted theft case. Monday evening, two people were arrested at the Matisse Museum, located in the Cimiez district, in Nice. Alerted by the establishment’s security service, municipal police quickly intervened within the site.

The mayor of Nice, Éric Ciotti, announced the intervention on the social network X. According to the mayor, municipal officers apprehended two individuals before they could access the exhibition spaces. “They did not access the rooms housing the artworks”, the mayor notably stated, before commending the municipal police officers for their responsiveness.

The Nice prosecutor’s office also confirmed the arrest of two people. A young adult and a minor have been placed in police custody for “attempted theft.” The Public Prosecutor of Nice, Damien Martinelli, remains cautious about the circumstances of the intervention. The “exact circumstances of the facts remain to be clarified.”

At this stage, the information provided does not allow us to determine the methods of this attempted break-in attempt or the precise intentions of the two suspects. No break-in was noted in the rooms housing the collections.

Following the burglary of the Renoir Museum, artworks once again at the center of an affair

This affair occurs in a particular context for cultural institutions in Alpes-Maritimes. Last September, the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer had been the target of a burglary. Two individuals had entered early in the morning in the painter’s last residence, before seizing four artworks displayed on the ground floor.

The burglars’ getaway was however disrupted by the quick arrival of municipal police officers. The officers intervened less than five minutes after the museum’s alarm was triggered. In their escape, the two individuals had abandoned two of the four stolen paintings.

The two other artworks were eventually found four weeks after the incident. The four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir have since been recovered. The two canvases that had been taken during the escape were each valued at 4.4 million euros.

The investigation conducted on this burglary has already led to five arrests. The investigations must notably make it possible to clarify the role of the different people implicated.