19 years ago, someone stole from the world
The Truth about Theft by =JesIdres on deviantART
19 years ago, 13 works of art were stolen from one of the most unique museums in the world.
5 of them were paintings- Rembrandt, Flinck (Originally thought to be a Rembrandt), Vermeer, and Manet. 6 of them were drawings by Degas. One was a Chinese Vase, 2000 years old. One was the Silver eagle top of Napolean's flag.
Many of the pieces were one of a kinds- Rembrandt's only known seascape; Vermeer is known only to have painted 34 paintings in his lifetime- and all of them held a special place among the 2,500 objects Mrs. Gardner collected and opened to the public.
There was another painting meant to be stolen that night- Rembrandt's self portrait was found on the floor, discarded when the robbers found, unlike the rest, it was painted on wood, not canvas, and thus could not be rolled.
To date it is the largest art theft still unsolved.
These are the event the Gardner Museum is best known for, despite the magnificent collection it still has- all collected and arranged by one truly amazing woman.
For 2 1/2 years I had the honor of working there as guide and volunteer. I worked the second floor the most often, where most of the work was stolen. But for every person asking about the empty frames and wanted to share their theories, there was someone asking about Queen Mary's portrait, or a child amazed at the flowers in bloom.
19 years ago, someone decided to be selfish and steal from the world for their own enjoyment. Someday, we hope that will change.