Two paintings by the impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoirstolen from a museum in the south of France and later discovered hidden behind a wall, suffered slight damage, prosecutors said Monday.
In September, thieves broke into the museum to Cagnes-sur-Mer and fled with two works by Renoir, abandoning two others in their flight.
The value of the four paintings had been estimated at $10 million.
On Friday, authorities announcement that the two outstanding stolen works had been found.
These were a portrait entitled “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” and a representation of a woman near a well called “Young Woman at the Well”.
Speaking to journalists in Paris, Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said the paintings were found last Thursday during a search of a house in Clermont-l’Hérault, in the south of the country.
The discovery of the stolen works follows the arrest of six people, including a woman, last Wednesday, Bessone said.
“The paintings were hidden behind a solid cinder block wall. They were completely undetectable,” Bessone said. “It was thanks to interrogation work that the investigators were able to get the recipient of the stolen goods to admit that he had indeed taken possession of the paintings.”
AP Photo/Philippe Magoni 
A 29-year-old man considered the main suspect was charged over the weekend after DNA evidence linked him to the theft.
Both paintings were “in relatively good condition”, although “both works showed signs of damage”, Bessone said, speaking alongside the head of the national judicial police, Christian Sainte.
The frame of “Young Woman at the Well” was slightly damaged, while “the canvas of the ‘Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano’ showed a tear,” Bessone said.
The tear was located “on the dress” of the portrait, said the prosecutor, adding that the two paintings “will require restoration work”.
Series of recent heists
The Minister of Culture Catherine Pegard praised “the efficiency and determination of all those who made this result possible”.
“Their commitment made it possible to recover these works in record time,” said the Ministry of Culture.
A wave of robberies in French museums — including at the Louvre – highlighted the lack of security in some cases and led to questions about whether criminal gangs saw them as easy targets.
Crown jewels valued at around $100 million were stolen in broad daylight from the Louvre in Paris last year.
The suspected thieves were arrested and chargedbut none of the jewelry were recovered except for a crown that fell when the group escaped.
Other French museums have been targeted in recent months. In July, burglars stole millions of dollars jewelry value from the museum of French luxury glassmaker Lalique.
In October 2025, a woman was arrested and billed on the gold theft from the Natural History Museum of Paris.
The previous month, thieves had stolen three porcelain works worth millions of dollars and classified as a national treasure during a heist at the Adrien Dubouche National Museum in Limoges in central France.
Gn entert
