The Gardner Heist: Why Art's Biggest Theft Remains Unsolved

On the night of March 17-18, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston fell victim to what would become the world's largest art theft from a private institution—a crime that, 35 years later, remains completely unsolved.

Two men arrived at the museum shortly after midnight. They wore Boston Police uniforms. When the security guard on duty answered the call box, they claimed to be responding to a disturbance. It was enough. The guard, following protocol, buzzed them in.

Once inside, the men overpowered the guard and bound him with duct tape in the basement. What followed was a methodical 81-minute operation that would baffle law enforcement for decades. The thieves moved through the museum's galleries with precision, selecting their targets with the knowledge of seasoned art professionals.

**A Haul for the Ages**

The stolen works included three Rembrandts, one Vermeer ("The Concert," considered among the five finest works by the Dutch master), five drawings by Degas, paintings by Manet, a Chinese vase, and a large bronze eagle. Estimates of the total value range from $300 million to $500 million—making it not just America's largest art heist, but arguably the world's most significant.

What strikes experts is not just what was taken, but what was deliberately left behind. The museum's third floor, where Isabella Gardner's own choice for the collection's most important work—"The Rape of Europa"—hangs, was never visited. This selective approach suggested the thieves possessed genuine art historical knowledge, not merely greed.