Posted
on March 18, 2016
It
was just the wee hours of March 18, 1990, and two policemen arrived
at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston, Massachusetts. One
of the police officers pushed the buzzer and told one of the two
security guards on the premises that they'd heard a disturbance in
the museum's courtyard.
The cops asked to be let in so that they could
investigate.
The
security guard let the policemen in. But then one of the officers
told the security guard that he looked familiar. There was, he
claimed, a warrant out for his arrest. The security guard was upset –
it was, he was sure, some sort of mistake – but he stepped out from
behind his desk, intending to cooperate with the police, and was soon
handcuffed.
The
second security guard arrived back on the scene, having finished his
rounds, and asked what was going on. He, too, soon found himself in
handcuffs.
“Why
are we being arrested?” one of the guards asked.
“You're
not being arrested – you're being robbed!” one of the policemen
answered.
And,
yeah, it turned bout that these guys were not police officers at all.
The uniforms were fake, and the badges were fake, although the
handcuffs were very real!
The
security guards were hustled into the museum's basement, where they
were handcuffed to pipes and wrapped with duct tape around their
hands, feet, and heads.
The
two not-cops stole thirteen pieces of art! The worth of the art was,
all together, about $500 million. This is considered the largest
private property theft in history!
Pieces
by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, Manet, and Flinck were stolen. Still,
some works were left behind that were far more valuable than the ones
that were stolen. Did the art thieves just not know much about art?
Or did they have some curious reason for why they chose to steal the
particular pieces they took? |
| Not every art piece stolen in the heist was a painting -- there were two three-D items and several Degas sketches, as well. |
Twenty-six
years later, the case has never been solved. Nobody knows who did the
heist, and none of the artworks have been recovered, and to this day
the empty frames hang in the museum, as homage to the missing
paintings and as placeholders in case they are ever found.
Apparently
the museum feels hopeful that one day the artworks will be recovered,
because they have publicized to whoever has them that the paintings
should be kept in a stable environment of 50% humidity and 70 degrees
F. They should be kept away from light, store in acid-free paper, and
never rolled.
But
all that advice may be for nothing, because the art thieves may be
dead (the FBI's two prime suspects have since died); the art works
may have been destroyed (which would explain why they have never
surfaced), but even if they are still around, they may not be cared
for, because it is possible that nobody alive knows where they are!
You
might think that this case is colder than cold, but the investigation
is still ongoing. Just a few months ago a racing track was searched
by FBI agents, based on some old rumors that just came to light. The
paintings were not found, but the FBI is patient....and they may yet
prevail.
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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