Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist
In 1990, 13 artworks were seized from a Boston museum, the largest property crime in U.S. history
On March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers rang the night bell for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, claiming they were responding to a disturbance.
Once inside, they overpowered and tied up the security guards in the basement. Then, they spent the next 81 minutes seizing 13 works of art valued at over $500 million at the time of the heist, making it the largest property crime in U.S. history.
The stolen art includes Degas sketches and Rembrandt works, as well as a Vermeer painting, which is one of only 36 in existence. In addition, they left a living masterpiece incomplete—the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum itself.
Its namesake, Isabella Stewart Gardner, opened the museum in 1903. She curated and designed the institution to be a work of art in its own right, placing each piece exactly where she wanted it.
Today, when people enter the Dutch room on the second floor of the museum where the Rembrandt and the Vermeer were stolen, they are immediately struck by large, gilded, ornate frames that are hanging empty because the paintings are missing.
The museum decided to display the empty frames in 1994, four years after the heist. It's an intentional choice designed to send a message to the public—a reminder of what was lost and hope that what was once there will someday return.
The FBI’s Boston Field Office continues to investigate the case in partnership with the museum and the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, following leads around the world.
Help us recover the art
The stolen artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is listed in the National Stolen Art File (NSAF), an online database of stolen art and cultural property.
- If you have information on any of the missing Gardner museum pieces, or any additional artworks listed in the NSAF database, please submit a tip to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. You can also call 1-800-CALL-FBI or your local FBI office.
- You can also contact the Gardner Museum—which continues to offer a reward of up to $10 million for return of the art in good condition—with any information.
You can also access the NSAF database in the palm of your hand using our National Stolen Art File app.
Resources
Sketches of suspects in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.
Seeking Information poster
Inside the FBI Podcast: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist
On this episode, learn about the historic heist; why the stolen pieces matter to the museum, the art world at large, and the FBI; and how you can help the Bureau bring the looted masterpieces back to Boston.
