Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist Remains Unsolved, Empty Frames on Display
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston continues to display empty frames where thirteen artworks, valued at approximately $500 million at the time, were stolen in the largest unsolved art theft in history. The heist occurred in the early hours of March 18, 1990, when two men disguised as police officers gained entry to the museum. They subdued the two guards on duty and spent 81 minutes moving through the galleries, undisturbed. Among the stolen pieces were Johannes Vermeer’s 'The Concert,' considered one of fewer than forty known Vermeer paintings and the most valuable stolen object globally, and Rembrandt’s 'The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,' his only seascape. Other works included Manet’s 'Chez Tortoni' and several Degas drawings. Some canvases were cut directly from their frames. No one has ever been charged in connection with the theft, and none of the artworks have been recovered. The FBI announced in 2013 that it believed it had identified the thieves as members of a criminal organization, who...
