Thieves have stolen three paintings worth millions of dollars from a museum near Parma in northern Italy, police said on Monday.

The raid took place overnight March 22–23 at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, in the village of Mamiano di Traversetolo, after intruders forced open the entrance door.

According to Italian media, the works taken were Les Poissons (The Fish), by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cezanne and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse. The stolen paintings had an estimated total value of about 9 million euros ($10.4 million), the BBC reported.

Police said four masked men entered the villa, reached a first-floor room and fled across the museum gardens.

According to investigators the raid, which lasted less than three minutes, with four burglars involved, may have been commissioned by an unscrupulous collector.

A fourth painting was abandoned by the thieves after an alarm went off, reported local media. The museum told the Sky TG24 television channel that the thieves were unable to continue because of the surveillance system and rapid intervention of police and security officers.

Investigators are reviewing the museum's surveillance footage and video from nearby businesses.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation, a private museum 20 kilometers from Parma, houses the collection of art historian Luigi Magnani and includes works by artists including Durer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.

Giovanni Damiani, an auctioneer at Rome's Arte Arcadia, was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying Cezanne's watercolor of cherries was the standout piece, valuing it at 6 to 10 million euros.

"It's something very rare, very beautiful and certainly very valuable," Damiani said. "Cherries are a much loved subject." He valued Renoir's Les Poissons, a late work, at about 500,000 euros and the Matisse print at roughly 30,000 euros.

Magnani, a writer, collector and art critic, began opening his collection to the public in 1983, the year before his death, and the collection has operated as a museum since 1990, reported The Times.

His lifelong friendship with Italian painter Giorgio Morandi enabled him to assemble an exceptional group of around 50 paintings, drawings and prints spanning the Bolognese artist's entire career.

In the latter half of the 20th century, he also built a unique Italian collection of French art. "It's this rarity, even before the question of price, that makes the theft a wound on the national heritage," the Gazzetta di Parma newspaper said.

The museum is currently presenting an exhibition of 140 works on symbolism in Italy, running through June 28.

The Parma theft follows a string of high-profile European museum robberies. In October, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris and in less than eight minutes escaped with jewelry valued at roughly 88 million euros.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com