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The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University Boston Massachusetts

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The biggest art theft in history occurred at the Isabella Gardner Stewart Museum, in Boston, Massachusetts. On March 18, 1990, ii burglars broke into the museum and made off with thirteen works of fine art, worth half a billion dollars. Despite a thorough investigation and several promising leads, the Gardner theft remains unsolved to this solar day. While the details of the theft have been widely publicized, many folks don't know much about the history of the museum and the incredible woman who started it all.

Gardner established the popular fine art museum in Boston to concord her massive and valuable art collection. The museum is dwelling house to over 7,500 pieces of fine art, including paintings, furniture, silver, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and 1,500 rare books. The bulk of the masterpieces came from ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Italy and Asia.

Let's take a look at the events that led to Gardner's dearest for art, the museum's beginnings and the largest art heist in history.

Stewart Gardner'southward Global Upbringing

Stewart Gardner was born in New York City on April xiv, 1840. Her father, David Stewart, made a living by importing Irish gaelic linen. Growing up, she lived in University Place in Manhattan.

When she turned xvi, Gardner moved to Paris with her family unit and completed her education away, assuasive her to learn firsthand about Renaissance art. In 1858, the family moved back to New York. Shortly afterwards, Gardner went to Boston to visit a former Paris classmate, Julia Gardner. Gardner introduced Stewart Gardner to her brother, John "Jack" Lowell Gardner Jr.

Stewart Gardner's Marriage and Family Life

Jack Gardner was in the cyberbanking business concern and a member of Boston'south upper form. Two years after Stewart Gardner met Jack Gardner in Boston, the two decided to tie the knot.

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On April 10, 1860, Stewart Gardner and Jack Gardner married at Grace Church in New York City. Stewart Gardner'south father gifted the newlyweds a house at 152 Buoy Street in Boston. The Gardners started a life together in their new Boston home, which was located on the Back Bay's richest street. Presently later, the Gardner'southward had a son, John Lowell Gardner III, born June 18, 1863. The new parents nicknamed their son "Jackie."

Stewart Gardner's Travel to Heal A Broken Eye

In the mid-1860s, a series of unfortunate events struck Stewart Gardner's life. Her son, Jackie, died from pneumonia at less than two years one-time in 1865. A year later, Stewart Gardner suffered a near-fatal miscarriage and found out she was unable to accept more children. Effectually the same fourth dimension, her sister-in-law and close friend, Julia Gardner, passed abroad.

The terrible news left Isabella Stewart Gardner heartbroken and depressed. On the advice of her doctor, in 1876, the Gardners traveled to Paris, Scandinavia and Russia for a year. During the trip, Stewart Gardner'southward health improved and she created scrapbooks of her adventures.

A Passion For Collecting Fine art Emerges

Stewart Gardner's trip to Europe and Russia fabricated her eager to run into the rest of the globe. In 1874, the Gardners traveled to the Middle East, Europe and Paris. The couple explored America, Europe and Asia in the late 1880s. During their adventures abroad, the couple gained an even greater knowledge of the arts and culture.

The Gardners started collecting art in Europe. When Stewart Gardner inherited $1.75 million from her male parent, she focused on growing her collection of European fine fine art. "The Concert" past Johannes Vermeer was one of her get-go purchases. From Egypt to the Far East, the Gardners collected paintings and statues from around the world in the late 1890s. The Gardners also began obtaining tapestries, photographs, argent and manuscripts during their travels. Venice, Italia, became her favorite city to visit considering artists frequently visited the Palazzo Barbaro, where the Gardners stayed. She became a regular at the palazzo, spending fourth dimension with the artists and purchasing art.

She Asked Male person Associates to Purchase Art on Her Behalf

Stewart Gardner became known for her massive fine art collection, but many people didn't know that her male person friends helped her larn some of her pieces. Fine art historian Bernard Berenson assisted her in acquiring about 70 pieces solitary. In the 1890s, most art collectors were men; it was rare for women to collect fine art.

Fine art curator Christina Nielsen explained the auction process to WBUR, maxim, "She has a human bid on her behalf. She sits in the dorsum of the room, and she's got a handkerchief over her confront. Her main competitors were the National Gallery in London and the Louvre that day. And they realized they were bidding confronting each other — and then they did a sort of gentlemanly bowing out. Meanwhile, her agent swooped in and bought the moving picture and suddenly Isabella Stewart Gardner was a well-known proper name in the art world overnight."

Isabella Congenital the Museum After Her Husband'southward Decease

By 1896, the Gardners discovered their enormous art collection barely fit in their Boston home. The couple dreamed of building a museum where they could keep their giant collection. Still, Jack Gardner suddenly died of a stroke in 1898.

After her husband's death, Stewart Gardner worked hard to make their dream come true. She bought a piece of land in the Fens of England and hired builder Willard T. Sears to draw upward museum models inspired by Venice's Renaissance compages. While Sears was in charge of constructing the museum, Stewart Gardner dictated the museum's design. When construction of the museum was completed in 1901, Gardner moved into the living quarters on the fourth floor and installed her collection throughout the museum portion of the building.

The Museum's Artwork Was Deliberately Arranged to Build a Narrative

For a year, Gardner carefully installed each of the items on the showtime three floors of the museum. Every piece was purposely assembled in different rooms to create a story. Gardner wanted to inspire others to fall in love with the fine art, rather than simply acquire about the art's history. Some pieces didn't even provide information virtually the painter or date of origin.

Gardner placed Titian'due south masterpiece "The Rape of Europa" in the Titian Room. The Titian masterpiece sits above a small piece of Stewart Gardner'southward pale greenish silk gown designed past Charles Frederick Worth. In the Dutch Room, Gardner organized famous works by European artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein.

The Museum's Other Items

Not just did the museum feature famous paintings, but it also presented rare books, manuscripts, furniture, tapestries, sculptures and decorative fine art pieces from the Gardner's travels. Many rooms displayed a mixture of these different pieces from diverse cultures and periods.

The Early Italian Room highlights Italian Gothic and Renaissance art. These paintings are surrounded by piece of furniture and other decorative articles from different periods and cultures across Europe, Arab republic of egypt, the Middle E and Asia. The Dutch Room includes Italian, Dutch and English language pieces such equally an Italian nightstand, a Dutch sugar bowl and a Dutch table salt cellar.

Artists Spent Time at the Museum

The chiliad opening of the museum was January. 1, 1903. Guests indulged in champagne and donuts while members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed. Scholar Charles Eliot Norton, philosopher William James, and symphony founder Henry Higginson attended the extravagant celebration. On Feb. 23, 1903, she welcomed the public into the museum.

Stewart Gardner likewise encouraged many artists, performers and scholars to visit the museum, such as John Vocalizer Sargent, Charles Martin Loeffler and Ruth St. Denis. Sargent used the museum'southward Gothic Room as a painting studio, while Loeffler posed as his model. Denis danced in the Cloisters, performing her signature piece, The Cobra. Stewart Gardner wanted the artists to find inspiration from her beautiful drove and the museum's Venetian designs.

Continuing Her Legacy

Stewart Gardner continued to grow her art collection and personally installed the pieces in the museum for the remainder of her life. She passed away July 17, 1924, after suffering a series of strokes. Although Stewart Gardner was no longer living, she even so dictated the museum'southward future.

Co-ordinate to her will, the museum must remain open "for the education and enjoyment of the public forever." It as well specifies that zippo in the museum tin can exist sold, relocated or removed. The museum was to be maintained the way she left it, significant new pieces weren't immune either. The drove remained untouched until March eighteen, 1990 — later 13 pieces valued at $500 million were stolen.

Suspects Arrived in Fake Police force Uniforms

As Bostonians celebrated St. Patrick's Mean solar day during the early hours of March xviii, 1990, ii thieves sat within a red Dodge Daytona on Palace Road near the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The 2 men were bearded equally constabulary officers and 1 of them had on a false wax mustache.

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For about an hr, the two criminals waited in their car to avoid the St. Patrick'southward Day party goers. As the crowd dispersed, the two thieves began their elaborate program. They exited their vehicle, walked to the archway of the museum and pressed the buzzer virtually the door at 1:24 a.m.

A Museum Security Guard Let the Thieves In

The museum had ii security guards on duty that nighttime. After the first baby-sit, Richard Abath, patrolled the museum, he came back to the front end desk-bound to change positions with the other guard. Abath heard the buzzer and saw two men outside. They told Abath they were police officers who had heard a commotion in the museum's courtyard, and asked to enter the building.

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Although Abath knew that guards weren't allowed to open the door to uninvited guests, he wasn't sure if the protocol too applied to law officers. Abath believed the men considering of their uniforms. While the other guard patrolled the galleries, Abath allowed the bearded men to enter.

Handcuffed and Tied

The thieves walked to the front desk, where Abath was stationed. I of the intruders told Abath his confront seemed familiar and that there was a warrant for his abort. Abath, confused, left the forepart desk expanse, where the only alarm push button was located. The thieves immediately forced Abath to confront the wall and handcuffed him. Abath thought the arrest was a fault, but quickly noticed the intruders didn't search him before putting him in handcuffs. He as well realized one of the thieves wore a false mustache.

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A few minutes later, Abath'south partner returned to the front desk and the thieves handcuffed him, also. The thieves then revealed they came to rob the museum. The robbers took the guards to the basement, where they handcuffed them to pipes and wrapped their heads, hands, and feet with duct tape. The criminals moved on to the galleries to get-go their heist.

81 Minutes to Consummate the Largest Theft in History

The museum's motility detectors recorded the thieves' movements. First, the robbers entered the Dutch Room and approached Rembrandt'due south "Self-Portrait," but the local warning went off. The thieves smashed the alarm. After taking the "Self-Portrait" off the wall, the 2 men unsuccessfully tried to remove the painting from its wooden panel. They left the painting on the floor instead.

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

The thieves went on to cut Rembrandt's "Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee" and "A Lady and Gentleman in Blackness" from the frames. Next, they took Vermeer's "The Concert" and Govaert Flinck's "Mural with an Obelisk." The criminals stole a full of 13 pieces throughout the museum including a Chinese Bronze Gu, five Degas drawings, and an hawkeye finial. The robbery occurred in 81 minutes. At 8:15 a.one thousand., police arrived at the scene and institute the guards tied up in the basement.

The FBI Found No Motive or Design

Believing that the stolen pieces would cross land lines, the FBI quickly took over the example. The FBI thought the perpetrators were role of a criminal arrangement from the mid-Atlantic and New England. Throughout the investigation, the FBI held hundreds of interviews including with American drug lords and former museum guards.

Photograph Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

In addition, the FBI worked with many specialists, including acme private investigators, Japanese and French authorities, museum directors and art dealers. Although the FBI collected over a chiliad pages of evidence, the investigation uncovered no unmarried motive or pattern. The FBI amanuensis in charge of the Stewart Gardner example, Geoffrey J. Kelly, has mentioned that the FBI knew the identities of the criminals, but Kelly didn't say if the suspects remained dead or alive. Kelly has provided no farther comment on the identities.

A Few Theories About the Fine art Heist Have Surfaced

One theory investigated by the FBI was that the heist was planned and carried out by the Irish Republican Army, with the goal of somewhen leveraging information to release their members from prison. A different theory suggested Boston'southward summit crime boss, Whitey Bulgar, organized the robbery. The FBI too had a theory that Myles J. Connor Jr. arranged the crime earlier he became New England's top art thief.

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In 2009, the Stewart Gardner Museum's director of security, Anthony Amore, heard a strange rumor. Amore said, "One bizarre theory was from people who say Mrs. Gardner speaks to them and tells them who stole the paintings. Also, others say mythical figures have spoken to them almost the thefts."

One of the Main Suspects Was Boston Gangster Robert Donati

Boston gangster Robert "Bobby" Donati became the FBI'due south top suspect during the investigation. In 1997, Connor claimed Donati was his cohort in organizing the Gardner robbery. Connor and Donati visited the museum together a few times earlier the theft. Also earlier the robbery, Donati went to a nightclub called The Shack, where he was seen carrying a bag of police uniforms.

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During the 1990 robbery, Connor remained in prison, but he said Donati managed the heist. In 1991, Donati was murdered. According to the New York Daily News, he may have been a victim in a gang war. The FBI somewhen threw out Donati as a pb suspect.

Some other Principal Suspect Was Robert "Bobby the Melt" Gentile

Gangster Robert "Bobby the Cook" Gentile was likewise on the FBI's radar as a possible suspect. The FBI believed he held some of the paintings from the Gardner Museum heist. In 2012, the FBI raided his home in Manchester, Connecticut, after the FBI brought drug charges confronting Gentile. The FBI institute nothing in the raid except for a listing of how much each stolen slice would cost on the black marketplace. Nevertheless, Gentile said he was innocent and knew nothing nigh the robbery.

Subsequently in 2016, the FBI filed gun charges against Gentile to forcefulness him to talk almost the location of the stolen art pieces. The federal prosecutor, John H. Durham, claimed Gentile and his mob partner Robert Guarente attempted to return two stolen artworks to reduce a prison house sentence for one of Guarente's assembly. Also, Guarente's wife insisted Gentile possessed a few of the stolen paintings. Gentile's lawyer argued confronting these claims and said that Gentile didn't know annihilation well-nigh the heist. In 2018, Gentile was sentenced to 54 months in prison on gun charges, but still hasn't admitted to any knowledge almost the whereabouts of the paintings.

A Few Leads Included a Letter and a New Video

In 1994, museum manager Anne Hawley received a letter that bodacious the return of the stolen pieces for $ii.6 million. The letter writer demanded that the museum get The Boston Globe to print a coded message in the concern department. Although the paper published the bulletin, the mysterious author disappeared later learning police force enforcement were involved.

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On Aug. 6, 2015, the U.S. Attorney's Office released a video that was taped the night before the heist at the Gardner Museum. On the six-infinitesimal video, two men appear at the entrance of the museum. One man was identified as Abath, the security guard who was tied upwardly during the robbery. The other man remains unknown. Authorities have asked for the public's aid to identify him in the footage. The video shows Abath buzzing the unidentified man into the museum twice. The man stayed in the lobby for a couple of minutes, exited and left in a car.

Dna Nerveless at The Criminal offense Scene Went Missing

After the robbery in 1990, police force nerveless traces of DNA from the duct tape and handcuffs that the thieves used to hold the museum'southward security guards. In 2010, the FBI wanted to retest the bear witness due to recent improvements in DNA analysis, hoping the new examination would aid find the thieves. However, the testify containing the Deoxyribonucleic acid had disappeared.

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The FBI conducted a search for the law-breaking scene evidence, but it was nowhere to be found. Investigators don't know when the evidence went missing, simply bearding sources claimed the evidence had been gone for over a decade. The FBI also doesn't know if the items were misplaced, stolen or disposed of. The missing evidence became another setback for the Stewart Gardner case, which remains unsolved to this day.

A True-Criminal offense Podcast Investigated the Unsolved Art Heist Mystery

In 2018, WBUR, a public radio station, collaborated with The Boston World to produce a 10-part podcast roofing the fine art heist mystery. The podcast, "Last Seen," covers the robbery, the suspects, people connected to the case and the FBI's investigation.

The team, led past WBUR members Kelly Horan and Jack Rodolico, researched the mystery for a year. The podcast features many interviews, including i with security baby-sit Abath and his partner from the night of the crime. The museum's director of security, Affection, says, "Things like this podcast that tin can reach a big audience are important for keeping the story live in people's minds and reminding the public that nosotros're never going to terminate looking for the stolen art."

A Documentary and Volume Covering the Crime Was Released

In 2005, a documentary film chosen "Stolen" by Rebecca Dreyfus featured the famous heist. The documentary follows art detective, Harold Smith, as he looks into the robbery's investigation and the 13 seized pieces. Smith chats with contemporary authors about Stewart Gardner'due south reputation as a famous art connoisseur and the works of Dutch painter Vermeer.

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum printed a pictorial book also named "Stolen" in 2018. "Stolen" provides information about the thirteen stolen works of art and contains essays from key staff members including Amore and Nielsen. Museum guests ofttimes ask for more than details on the missing pieces, which inspired the museum to produce "Stolen."

The Famous Heist Is Mentioned Throughout Pop Civilization

Many Telly shows have featured the law-breaking, including "The Black List," "The Simpsons" and "Drunk History." In "The Black Listing," the episode "The Courier" features a criminal named Raymond Reddington looking at Rembrandt'south painting "Christ in The Storm on the Ocean of Galilee."

"The Simpsons" has an episode in which Mr. Burns possesses stolen fine art from the Stewart Gardner Museum at Burns Manor. As a result, the police arrest Mr. Burns and throw him in prison. In "Drunk History," the episode "Boston" features two criminals struggling to steal art and doing whatever they tin can to complete the heist.

Some of the Stolen Paintings

Govaert Flinck'southward "Landscape with an Obelisk" from 1638 is i of the stolen works of fine art. The robbers took Flinck'southward painting from the museum'southward Dutch Room. Many art enthusiasts initially believed the picture belonged to the painter Rembrandt, just they subsequently learned Flinck was the owner. Dutch painter Flinck was really a pupil of Rembrandt, who helped influence his work.

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Flinck created "Landscape with an Obelisk" using oil on wood. The cute painting features a stormy day, a fantasy landscape and an obelisk inspired by one that'south near Amsterdam. The picture too includes a bridge and a pocket-sized human being on a horse.

The Painting "Chez Tortoni" Was Another Missing Piece

Another missing painting is Édouard Manet'due south "Chez Tortoni" from effectually 1875. The museum's Blueish Room used to agree Manet's famous artwork. Manet was known to create paintings in cafes that resembled snapshots.

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Manet'south painting illustrates a young homo with a mustache and a superlative hat sitting in the Café Tortoni de Paris. The human is property a pencil in his hand and writing on newspaper. The homo's eyes are positioned looking directly at the piece's viewer. Additionally, a glass of wine sits on the gentleman'southward table. WBUR describes the picture's castor strokes as wide and tactile.

"La Sortie de Pesage" and "3 Mounted Jockeys" by Degas Were Stolen

Several Edgar Degas works disappeared in the heist, including "La Sortie de Pesage" and "Three Mounted Jockeys." These two paintings used to hang in the museum's Short Gallery. Degas, a French artist, was popular for drawing dancers, but in "La Sortie de Pesage" he illustrated a crowd of people, a jockey and a equus caballus using pencil and watercolor. No one knows when Degas created "La Sortie de Pesage."

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The thieves also stole the Degas painting "Three Mounted Jockeys" from around 1885. Degas created the piece with blackness ink and oil pigments. While 1 jockey sits upright on a equus caballus, the other two jockeys are upside down in the painting.

"Plan for an Artistic Soirée" I and Two Were Taken

A couple more Degas works that vanished include "Program for an Artistic Soirée" and "Plan for an Creative Soirée, Study 2" from 1884. The criminals removed these Degas drawings from the Brusque Gallery's cabinets. Stewart Gardner had assembled the cabinets herself to showcase the artwork.

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Degas sketched the drawings with charcoal on white paper, which features the skirt and legs of a dancer. The drawing also includes a woman holding an open booklet and a man in a hat and wig side by side to a musical musical instrument. The second "Program for an Creative Soiree" appears more than finished than the commencement sketch.

"Cortège aux Surround de Florence" and a Few Works By Rembrandt

Notwithstanding another Degas, the sketch "Cortege aux Environs de Florence" and a few Rembrandt works were as well stolen. "Cortege aux Environment de Florence" used to exist displayed in the Short Gallery. Degas drew the artwork with a pencil and used a sepia launder on newspaper. The sketch illustrates a carriage with horses, a woman with a giant umbrella and 3 women who may exist dancing. He finished this sketch around 1857.

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Other missing works include Rembrandt'southward "A Lady And Gentleman In Blackness" and his most famous painting "Christ In The Storm On The Bounding main Of Galilee" from 1633. The criminals stole both paintings from the museum'due south Dutch Room. The thieves as well made off with his tiny sketch titled "Portrait Of The Creative person As A Beau" from 1633. The sketch features Rembrandt'southward serious face up with untidy hair. The thieves attempted to seize Rembrandt's "Self-Portrait" oil painting, only the job was unsuccessful.

The Thieves As well Took a Gu, a Finial and Vermeer'southward "The Concert"

From the museum'south Dutch Room, the criminals fabricated off with a Chinese Gu (a bronze chalice) from 12th century BC. Co-ordinate to WBUR, the Gu was one of the near elegant and oldest pieces in the museum. Another particular removed from the museum was the bronze French Hawkeye finial from around 1813. The hawkeye was fastened to a flagpole from Napoleon's First Regiment of Regal Guard. Although the eagle is gone, the flag remains in the museum.

WBUR reports that Vermeer's "The Concert" is the rarest and nearly valuable of the stolen works because few of his paintings exist. Vermeer'south painting is priced at $200 million. "The Concert" features 3 musicians surrounding a piano and a black-and-white tiled floor.

The Museum and FBI Are Still Looking for New Leads

Although the Gardner case collected some promising leads, the identities of the criminals and the whereabouts of the 13 pieces remain a mystery. To this day, empty frames of the missing paintings hang on the walls. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum hopes that the stolen pieces will one day be returned. Currently, the museum is offering a $10 million reward for information that can help recover the stolen pieces.

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The FBI, the museum and the U.S. attorney's function continue to search for new leads. The museum encourages anyone with information to reach out to the Stewart Gardner Museum. The museum'southward manager says "I've spent more than a decade preparing for any scenario. I'm very ready. I'll become anywhere. I'll meet with the devil for these paintings."

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