On March 18, 1990, just a few hours after Saint Patrick Day celebrations had ended in Boston, two men dressed in police officers knocked at the service entry door of the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum. It was around 01:24. The institution’s rules strictly forbad that the doors be opened at night-time, but guards made an exception that night. Although the „police men” did not carry any guns they attacked the guards as soon as they entered the museum. The guards were then handcuffed and taken to the basement.
In less than 90 minutes, the robbers went up to the Dutch Chamber from the second floor and stole three Rembrandt paintings; one of these paintings represented the only marine landscape the painter has ever created. They cut it quickly off the frame and left behind pieces of threaded cloth. Vermeer’s „The Concert” and a Chinese cup were also stolen from the same chamber.
The robbers tried to stole another Rembrandt painting but they did not manage to do so eventually. From the Short Gallery, the robbers took away five Degas drafts as well as the bronze vulture from a flag that belonged to Bonaparte’s troops. Sources said that 12 paintings worth $300 million had been stolen. Other sources stated that 13 paintings worth $500 million were stolen.
No matter the number of the stolen paintings, the breakage is huge and this is one of history’s biggest robberies. The robbers have not been caught to this day because they destroyed the surveillance tapes and left no fingerprints behind. The works of art are forever lost. A five million reward is offered nowadays for any information leading to finding the paintings.