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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist: About

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist

Link to _how I went undercover to rescue the world's stolen treasures by Robert K Wittman in the catalog
Link to Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off The World's Greatest Art Heist by Stephen Kurkjian in the catalog
Link to The 500 Million Dollar Heist: Unsolved Case Files by Tom Sullivan in the catalog
Link to The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel in the catalog
Link to The Woman Who Stole Vermeer by Anthony M. Amore in the catalog
Link to The Rescue Artist: a true story of art, thieves, and the hunt for a missing masterpiece by Edward Dolnick in the catalog

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The Timeline of the Theft

In the early hours of March 18 a vehicle pulled up near the side entrance of the Museum. Two men in police uniforms pushed the Museum buzzer, stated they were responding to a disturbance, and requested to be let in. The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them through the employee entrance. At the fake officers’ request he stepped away from the watch desk. He and a second security guard were handcuffed and tied up in the basement of the Museum. The thieves departed with 13 of the Gardner’s works of art 81 minutes later.

The Museum was equipped with motion detectors, so the thieves’ movements were recorded. The best known works of art were taken from the Dutch Room. They cut Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and Gentleman in Black from their frames; removed Vermeer’s The Concert and Flinck’s Landscape with an Obelisk from their frames; pulled an ancient Chinese bronze Gu, or beaker, from a table; and took a small self-portrait etching by Rembrandt from the side of a chest.

In the Short Gallery, on the same floor as the Dutch Room, five Degas drawings and a bronze eagle finial were stolen. Manet’s Chez Tortoni was taken from the Blue Room. The thieves departed at 2:45 AM, after making two separate trips to their car with the artwork. The guards remained handcuffed until police arrived at 8:15 AM.

Today empty frames remain hanging in the Museum as a placeholder for the missing works and as symbols of hope awaiting their return. The return of the Gardner’s works remains a top priority. The Museum, the FBI, and the US Attorney's office are still seeking viable leads that could result in safe return of the art. Continue reading from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Link to Art Heists that Made History resource guide series