The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today that it knows the identity of the thieves who stole 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston more than two decades ago, in what’s widely viewed as the biggest art heist in U.S. history. But the agency is still trying to figure out where those pieces are.
“The FBI believes with a high degree of confidence that in the years after the theft, the art was transported to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region, and some of the art was taken to Philadelphia, where it was offered for sale by those responsible for the theft,” Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the agency’s Boston office, said in a press release. “With that same confidence, we have identified the thieves, who are members of a criminal organization with a base in the Mid-Atlantic states and New England.”
On Mar. 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers gained entry to the museum, tied up the security officers and swiped 13 works worth an estimated $500 million, according to The Associated Press. They include several sketches by Edgar Degas, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, the only seascape ever painted by Rembrandt Van Rijn, and The Concert, one of only 36 paintings by Johannes Vermeer that still exists. Here’s a gallery of the missing work, below; if any of these look familiar, you might want to go ahead and contact the FBI: the agency is offering a $5 million reward to anyone who reports their location.
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Édouard Manet, Chez Tortoni:
Govaert Flinck, Landscape with Obelisk:
Johannes Vermeer, The Concert:
Rembrandt van Rijn, A Lady and Gentleman in Black:
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee:
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait:
Edgar Degas, La Sortie de Pesage:
Edgar Degas, Cortege aux Environs de Florence:
Edgar Degas, Program for an artistic soiree (1):
Edgar Degas, Program for an artistic soiree (2)
Edgar Degas, Three Mounted Jockeys:
Bronze Eagle Finial from a Napoleonic battle flag
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