Verona - Three armed robbers have stolen several priceless paintings from Castelvecchio Museum, museum officials said Friday. Among the masterpieces were works of Rubens, Mantegna, Tintorettos, Pisanello and Jacopo Bellini, they added.

  "They were professionals, they knew what to take and knew the museum," said Flavio Tosi, the mayor of Verona. "Surely someone sent them, because they how to move and what to look for," he concluded.

  According to what has been learned, on Thursday night three hooded and armed criminals broke into the museum and threatened the security guard and the cashier. Then the workers of the museum were immobilized and gagged with tape and kept under constant control by one of the thugs. The others criminals have stolen the paintings.

  The Museum of Verona where the valuable works of art have been stolen is housed at the Medieval Castle, known as Castelvecchio. The fortress was erected in 1354 by Grande della Scala. Restored and prepared between 1958 and 1974 with the project of Carlo Scarpa, the museum is in 29 various rooms on different levels.

  The robbers have stolen 11 masterpieces and 4 less valuable paintings including. The complete list of the missing works includes Tintoretto's 'Madonna allattante', 'Trasporto dell'arca dell'alleanza', 'Banchetto di Baltassar', 'Sansone' and 'Giudizio di Salomone'; Peter Paul Rubens' 'Dama delle licnidi'; Andrea Mantegna's 'Sacra famiglia con una santa'; 'Ritratto maschile' by the circle of Jacopo Tintoretto; 'Ritratto di ammiraglio veneziano' by the workshop of Domenico Tintoretto; 'Madonna della quaglia' by Pisanello; 'San Girolamo Penitente' by Jacopo Bellini; 'Ritratto di giovane con disegno infantile' and 'Ritratto di giovane benedettino' by Giovanni Francesco Caroto; 'Porto di mare' by Hans de Jode; and 'Ritratto di Girolamo Pompei' by Giovanni Benini.