Two Renoir paintings stolen from French museum are recovered

The two works were seized last month when thieves cut through a fence and smashed a window at the Renoir Museum on the French Riviera. The works, Jeune fille au puits and Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano, were stolen last month Two paintings by Auguste Renoir stolen a month ago from a museum in the south of France have been recovered, the local town hall has said. The two works were seized on 8 September when thieves cut through a fence and smashed a window at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the French impressionist had lived during his final years. The local mayor praised authorities for recovering the paintings and said the news gave immense joy and profound relief.

Six suspects have also been arrested in relation with the heist at Renoir Museum, the town hall confirmed in a statement. The theft was the latest in a series of high-profile art heists in Europe. The two missing paintings were the Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune fille au puits (1886). The thieves had used an electric saw to cut through the frame mountings inside the museum and had initially made off with four paintings, but dropped two of them in the museum's garden as they fled "These two paintings are far more than works of art. They