Map of Boston Computer Background Map of Boston Art

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The biggest art theft in history occurred at the Isabella Gardner Stewart Museum, in Boston, Massachusetts. On March xviii, 1990, two burglars bankrupt into the museum and made off with xiii works of fine art, worth half a billion dollars. Despite a thorough investigation and several promising leads, the Gardner theft remains unsolved to this twenty-four hour period. 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 art museum in Boston to agree her massive and valuable fine art collection. The museum is domicile to over 7,500 pieces of art, including paintings, furniture, silvery, sculptures, textiles, ceramics and 1,500 rare books. The majority of the masterpieces came from ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Italian republic and Asia.

Allow's accept a expect at the events that led to Gardner's love for fine art, the museum's beginnings and the largest art heist in history.

Stewart Gardner's Global Upbringing

Stewart Gardner was born in New York Metropolis on Apr fourteen, 1840. Her father, David Stewart, fabricated a living by importing Irish linen. Growing upward, she lived in University Place in Manhattan.

When she turned sixteen, Gardner moved to Paris with her family unit and completed her education abroad, allowing her to learn immediate about Renaissance art. In 1858, the family unit moved back to New York. Presently later on, Gardner went to Boston to visit a quondam Paris classmate, Julia Gardner. Gardner introduced Stewart Gardner to her brother, John "Jack" Lowell Gardner Jr.

Stewart Gardner's Marriage and Family unit Life

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

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On Apr 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 dwelling house, which was located on the Back Bay's richest street. Shortly after, the Gardner'south had a son, John Lowell Gardner III, born June 18, 1863. The new parents nicknamed their son "Jackie."

Stewart Gardner'due south Travel to Heal A Broken Middle

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 old in 1865. A year later, Stewart Gardner suffered a nearly-fatal miscarriage and found out she was unable to have more children. Around the aforementioned time, her sis-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's health improved and she created scrapbooks of her adventures.

A Passion For Collecting Art Emerges

Stewart Gardner's trip to Europe and Russia made her eager to encounter the rest of the world. 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 fine art in Europe. When Stewart Gardner inherited $1.75 one thousand thousand from her father, she focused on growing her collection of European fine art. "The Concert" by Johannes Vermeer was i of her starting time purchases. From Egypt to the Far Due east, the Gardners collected paintings and statues from around the globe in the late 1890s. The Gardners likewise began obtaining tapestries, photographs, silvery and manuscripts during their travels. Venice, Italy, became her favorite metropolis to visit because artists frequently visited the Palazzo Barbaro, where the Gardners stayed. She became a regular at the palazzo, spending time with the artists and purchasing art.

She Asked Male person Associates to Buy Art on Her Behalf

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

Art curator Christina Nielsen explained the sale process to WBUR, saying, "She has a man bid on her behalf. She sits in the back of the room, and she's got a handkerchief over her face. Her master competitors were the National Gallery in London and the Louvre that twenty-four hours. And they realized they were bidding against each other — and then they did a sort of gentlemanly bowing out. Meanwhile, her agent swooped in and bought the picture and suddenly Isabella Stewart Gardner was a well-known name in the art world overnight."

Isabella Built the Museum Later Her Husband'due south Death

By 1896, the Gardners discovered their enormous fine art drove barely fit in their Boston home. The couple dreamed of building a museum where they could keep their giant collection. However, 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 slice of state in the Fens of England and hired builder Willard T. Sears to draw upwardly museum models inspired by Venice'due south Renaissance compages. While Sears was in charge of constructing the museum, Stewart Gardner dictated the museum's pattern. 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 Bundled to Build a Narrative

For a yr, Gardner advisedly installed each of the items on the first 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 larn about the art's history. Some pieces didn't even provide information about the painter or engagement of origin.

Gardner placed Titian'due south masterpiece "The Rape of Europa" in the Titian Room. The Titian masterpiece sits higher up a small piece of Stewart Gardner'due south pale light-green silk gown designed by 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'south Other Items

Non but did the museum feature famous paintings, but it also presented rare books, manuscripts, furniture, tapestries, sculptures and decorative art pieces from the Gardner's travels. Many rooms displayed a mixture of these unlike pieces from various cultures and periods.

The Early Italian Room highlights Italian Gothic and Renaissance art. These paintings are surrounded by furniture and other decorative manufactures from different periods and cultures across Europe, Egypt, the Centre East and Asia. The Dutch Room includes Italian, Dutch and English pieces such every bit an Italian nightstand, a Dutch saccharide basin and a Dutch salt cellar.

Artists Spent Fourth dimension at the Museum

The m opening of the museum was Jan. 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 commemoration. On February. 23, 1903, she welcomed the public into the museum.

Stewart Gardner also encouraged many artists, performers and scholars to visit the museum, such equally John Vocalizer Sargent, Charles Martin Loeffler and Ruth St. Denis. Sargent used the museum's 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 observe inspiration from her beautiful collection and the museum's Venetian designs.

Continuing Her Legacy

Stewart Gardner connected to grow her art collection and personally installed the pieces in the museum for the residuum of her life. She passed away July 17, 1924, later suffering a serial of strokes. Although Stewart Gardner was no longer living, she still dictated the museum'southward futurity.

Co-ordinate to her will, the museum must remain open "for the pedagogy and enjoyment of the public forever." It also specifies that nothing in the museum tin can be sold, relocated or removed. The museum was to be maintained the mode she left it, significant new pieces weren't allowed either. The collection remained untouched until March xviii, 1990 — after 13 pieces valued at $500 million were stolen.

Suspects Arrived in Imitation Police Uniforms

As Bostonians celebrated St. Patrick's Day during the early hours of March eighteen, 1990, two thieves saturday inside a red Dodge Daytona on Palace Road near the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The two men were disguised as police officers and one of them had on a fake wax mustache.

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For well-nigh an hour, the 2 criminals waited in their car to avert the St. Patrick'south Twenty-four hour period party goers. Every bit the crowd dispersed, the two thieves began their elaborate programme. They exited their vehicle, walked to the archway of the museum and pressed the cablegram most the door at ane:24 a.thousand.

A Museum Security Guard Allow the Thieves In

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

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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 also applied to police officers. Abath believed the men considering of their uniforms. While the other baby-sit patrolled the galleries, Abath allowed the disguised men to enter.

Handcuffed and Tied

The thieves walked to the front desk, where Abath was stationed. One of the intruders told Abath his face seemed familiar and that there was a warrant for his arrest. Abath, confused, left the front desk area, where the simply alert push was located. The thieves immediately forced Abath to confront the wall and handcuffed him. Abath thought the arrest was a error, but apace noticed the intruders didn't search him before putting him in handcuffs. He as well realized one of the thieves wore a faux mustache.

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A few minutes later, Abath's partner returned to the front desk and the thieves handcuffed him, likewise. 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 start their heist.

81 Minutes to Complete the Largest Theft in History

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

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

The FBI Found No Motive or Pattern

Believing that the stolen pieces would cross state lines, the FBI apace took over the example. The FBI thought the perpetrators were part 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.

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In addition, the FBI worked with many specialists, including top private investigators, Japanese and French authorities, museum directors and art dealers. Although the FBI collected over a k pages of show, the investigation uncovered no single motive or pattern. The FBI agent in accuse of the Stewart Gardner case, 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 further comment on the identities.

A Few Theories Almost the Art Heist Have Surfaced

One theory investigated past the FBI was that the heist was planned and carried out past the Irish Republican Army, with the goal of eventually leveraging information to release their members from prison house. A different theory suggested Boston'southward meridian crime boss, Whitey Bulgar, organized the robbery. The FBI likewise had a theory that Myles J. Connor Jr. bundled the criminal offence before he became New England'south 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, "Ane bizarre theory was from people who say Mrs. Gardner speaks to them and tells them who stole the paintings. As well, others say mythical figures have spoken to them about the thefts."

One of the Master Suspects Was Boston Gangster Robert Donati

Boston gangster Robert "Bobby" Donati became the FBI'southward 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 before the theft. Also before 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 eventually threw out Donati as a lead suspect.

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

Gangster Robert "Bobby the Cook" Gentile was also on the FBI'southward radar equally a possible doubtable. The FBI believed he held some of the paintings from the Gardner Museum heist. In 2012, the FBI raided his home in Manchester, Connecticut, subsequently the FBI brought drug charges against Gentile. The FBI found nothing in the raid except for a listing of how much each stolen piece would cost on the black market. However, Gentile said he was innocent and knew nothing almost the robbery.

Later in 2016, the FBI filed gun charges confronting Gentile to force him to talk most 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'southward associates. Likewise, Guarente'south married woman insisted Gentile possessed a few of the stolen paintings. Gentile's lawyer argued against these claims and said that Gentile didn't know anything virtually the heist. In 2018, Gentile was sentenced to 54 months in prison on gun charges, but still hasn't admitted to whatever knowledge well-nigh the whereabouts of the paintings.

A Few Leads Included a Letter and a New Video

In 1994, museum managing director Anne Hawley received a letter that assured the return of the stolen pieces for $ii.6 million. The letter writer demanded that the museum go The Boston World to print a coded message in the business section. Although the newspaper published the message, the mysterious writer disappeared after learning law enforcement were involved.

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On Aug. six, 2015, the U.South. Attorney's Office released a video that was taped the night before the heist at the Gardner Museum. On the six-infinitesimal video, 2 men announced at the entrance of the museum. Ane man was identified equally Abath, the security baby-sit who was tied upward during the robbery. The other human being remains unknown. Regime 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 automobile.

DNA Collected at The Criminal offence Scene Went Missing

After the robbery in 1990, police force collected traces of Deoxyribonucleic acid from the duct tape and handcuffs that the thieves used to concur the museum's security guards. In 2010, the FBI wanted to retest the evidence due to recent improvements in DNA assay, hoping the new examination would help detect the thieves. However, the show containing the DNA had disappeared.

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The FBI conducted a search for the crime scene evidence, simply it was nowhere to be found. Investigators don't know when the evidence went missing, but anonymous 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 some other setback for the Stewart Gardner case, which remains unsolved to this mean solar day.

A Truthful-Criminal offence Podcast Investigated the Unsolved Art Heist Mystery

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

The team, led by WBUR members Kelly Horan and Jack Rodolico, researched the mystery for a year. The podcast features many interviews, including ane with security guard Abath and his partner from the night of the criminal offence. The museum's director of security, Affection, says, "Things like this podcast that can reach a large audition are important for keeping the story alive in people'due south minds and reminding the public that we're never going to cease looking for the stolen fine art."

A Documentary and Volume Roofing the Offense Was Released

In 2005, a documentary movie called "Stolen" by Rebecca Dreyfus featured the famous heist. The documentary follows art detective, Harold Smith, every bit he looks into the robbery'due south investigation and the thirteen seized pieces. Smith chats with contemporary authors about Stewart Gardner's 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 13 stolen works of fine art and contains essays from key staff members including Affection and Nielsen. Museum guests frequently enquire for more details on the missing pieces, which inspired the museum to produce "Stolen."

The Famous Heist Is Mentioned Throughout Pop Culture

Many TV shows take featured the crime, including "The Blackness Listing," "The Simpsons" and "Drunk History." In "The Blackness List," the episode "The Courier" features a criminal named Raymond Reddington looking at Rembrandt's painting "Christ in The Storm on the Sea of Galilee."

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

Some of the Stolen Paintings

Govaert Flinck's "Mural with an Obelisk" from 1638 is i of the stolen works of fine art. The robbers took Flinck's painting from the museum's Dutch Room. Many art enthusiasts initially believed the motion-picture show belonged to the painter Rembrandt, only they subsequently learned Flinck was the owner. Dutch painter Flinck was actually a student of Rembrandt, who helped influence his work.

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Flinck created "Landscape with an Obelisk" using oil on wood. The beautiful painting features a stormy day, a fantasy landscape and an obelisk inspired by 1 that'south near Amsterdam. The moving-picture show also includes a bridge and a small-scale man on a horse.

The Painting "Chez Tortoni" Was Another Missing Piece

Another missing painting is Édouard Manet's "Chez Tortoni" from around 1875. The museum's Blue Room used to hold Manet's famous artwork. Manet was known to create paintings in cafes that resembled snapshots.

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Manet's painting illustrates a immature human being with a mustache and a tiptop hat sitting in the Café Tortoni de Paris. The human being is property a pencil in his paw and writing on newspaper. The man's eyes are positioned looking directly at the piece's viewer. Additionally, a glass of wine sits on the admirer's table. WBUR describes the flick'due south brush strokes every bit wide and tactile.

"La Sortie de Pesage" and "Three 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 pop for drawing dancers, merely 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 "Iii Mounted Jockeys" from effectually 1885. Degas created the piece with blackness ink and oil pigments. While i jockey sits upright on a horse, the other two jockeys are upside down in the painting.

"Program for an Creative Soirée" One and 2 Were Taken

A couple more Degas works that vanished include "Program for an Creative Soirée" and "Program for an Artistic Soirée, Study ii" from 1884. The criminals removed these Degas drawings from the Short 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 newspaper, which features the brim and legs of a dancer. The drawing also includes a woman holding an open booklet and a man in a hat and wig next to a musical instrument. The second "Programme for an Artistic Soiree" appears more finished than the showtime sketch.

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

Withal another Degas, the sketch "Cortege aux Surround de Florence" and a few Rembrandt works were also stolen. "Cortege aux Environs de Florence" used to be displayed in the Short Gallery. Degas drew the artwork with a pencil and used a sepia wash on paper. The sketch illustrates a railroad vehicle with horses, a adult female with a giant umbrella and three women who may be dancing. He finished this sketch around 1857.

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Other missing works include Rembrandt's "A Lady And Gentleman In Blackness" and his most famous painting "Christ In The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee" from 1633. The criminals stole both paintings from the museum's Dutch Room. The thieves also made off with his tiny sketch titled "Portrait Of The Artist As A Fellow" from 1633. The sketch features Rembrandt's serious face up with untidy hair. The thieves attempted to seize Rembrandt'due south "Cocky-Portrait" oil painting, simply the job was unsuccessful.

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

From the museum's Dutch Room, the criminals fabricated off with a Chinese Gu (a bronze beaker) from 12th century BC. According to WBUR, the Gu was one of the most elegant and oldest pieces in the museum. Another item removed from the museum was the bronze French Hawkeye finial from effectually 1813. The hawkeye was attached to a flagpole from Napoleon's First Regiment of Imperial Guard. Although the eagle is gone, the flag remains in the museum.

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

The Museum and FBI Are All the same Looking for New Leads

Although the Gardner example nerveless some promising leads, the identities of the criminals and the whereabouts of the xiii 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 mean solar day be returned. Currently, the museum is offer a $10 1000000 reward for information that can assist recover the stolen pieces.

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

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