The more you know about it, the more options you see.. For years Calantropo was reluctant to speak about the conversation with Donati, fearing for his safety. Half of the disciples are in the light, and the other half of the disciples are in the dark, she described, One is vomiting over the side of the boatand Christ is calm in the middle of it all.. Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser. Before their masterpieces were stolen she said she looked at them for hours, internalizing the expressive handiwork that can't be seen in reproductions. [142] Merlino died in prison in 2005. [32][42] The latter was previously stolen and returned in 1970. [88] Hawley received a second letter a few days later in which the writer acknowledged the museum was interested in negotiating, but that they had become fearful of what they perceived was a massive investigation by federal and state authorities to determine their identity. [82] The writer explained that they were a third-party negotiator and did not know the identity of the thieves. Several former museum guards came forward and identified that the stranger was the museum's deputy security chief. [22][23][24] It took the thieves less than 15 minutes to subdue the guards, which they completed at about 1:35a.m.[25], The thieves' movements through the museum were recorded on infrared motion detectors. And do you hope this documentary will help? Now, a new Netflix docuseries, This Is a Robbery: The Worlds Biggest Art Heist, takes a deep dive into the thorny mysteries surrounding the crime. [164][165] He received a call back from an associate of Ferrara who explained the FBI was wrong in suspecting the Merlino gang's involvement and claimed that Donati organized the robbery. [165] A friend of Guarente also corroborated that Donati organized the robbery, and that Donati gave paintings to Guarente when he became concerned for his own safety. For Anthony Amore, director of security and chief investigator at the Gardner Museum, the empty ornate wooden frames haunt him like ghosts. Here's what was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. And then you have Rembrandt as the 13th apostle looking directly at you. They overpowered two unsuspecting night security guards, then. Calantropo is now part of a group of four men including a retired law enforcement official, two former convicts, and retired Globe investigative reporter Stephen Kurkjian investigating the heist. This Is a Robbery - Wikipedia How do you get files from a courthouse in Suffolk County from 1986 that arent digitized, you know? The 356-year-old Vermeer painting is one of about 34 known works by him. "[6] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 13 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]. Anyone who helps return the Napoleonic eagle finial will receive a separate $100,000 reward. Things of that nature. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. In 1990, approximately 13 artworks were finessed out of the museum and the case remains unsolved ever since. [5], For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 81% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. When it took place in . However, he recently recounted what transpired that day for the FBI, according to the paper. [38][39] The police searched the building and found the guards still bound in the basement. [70] It is unknown if the thieves left DNA evidence. An Explosive Netflix Documentary About the $500 Million Isabella Their knowledge of what happened after that is limited, and they requested the public's help to locate and return the artwork. As law enforcement scrutinizes the museum's security, a suspect emerges. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves bound the guards and looted the museum over the next hour. The side entrance doors were opened at 2:40a.m. and again for the last time at 2:45a.m.[37][36] The robbery lasted 81 minutes. [158] He would not work with authorities unless his demands could be met, which included full immunity and Connor's release from jail. The series briefly considers several wilder suggestions, including the theory that members of the Irish Republic Army (IRA) were involved in the crime, notes Esquire. [26] Abath maintains his innocence,[76] and the FBI agent overseeing the case in its early years concluded that the guards were too incompetent and foolish to have committed the crime. Yet despite a Netflix television series, a hit investigative podcast from theGlobe and WBUR and a $10 million reward promised by the FBI, the location of the stolen paintings themselves remains a mystery. I spent basically five years calling his lawyer every week. Nora McGreevy Now we're at the 30th, Amore reflected. In the early hours of March 18, 1990, one of the world's most lucrative art heists took place in Boston. [147] Connor also claimed that Houghton visited him in jail after the heist and said that he and Donati organized it and were going to use the paintings to get Connor out of jail. Abath told investigators that he could not recall the incident or recognize the man, and the FBI requested the public's assistance. [4] It was released on Netflix on April 7, 2021, receiving generally positive reviews from critics. Follow Boston.com on Instagram (Opens in a New Tab), Follow Boston.com on Twitter (Opens in a New Tab), Like Boston.com on Facebook (Opens in a New Tab), This Is a Robbery: The Worlds Biggest Art Heist. At 1:24 a.m. on March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers walked into Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. [164] The caller explained that Donati visited Ferrara in jail about three months before the theft, after the latter was charged for murder,[166] and told Ferrara that he was going to do something to get him out of jail. Youngworth. [147], Acting on Connor's lead, the FBI opened a case on Youngworth and conducted raids on his home and antique store properties in the 1990s. If he knew information about the theft, at no point did he opt to share it, which would have reduced his sentence or freed him from prison. [93] The gang was loyal to Boston Mafia boss Frank Salemme and ran their operations out of an automobile repair shop run by criminal Carmello Merlino. Those who might have information about the circumstances of Marks death or the fate of the Gardner paintings in general can contact the museums tip line at [emailprotected]. The website's critics consensus reads, "This is a Robbery may not be the world's most innovative docuseries, but a fascinating subject and an acute attention to detail make for a riveting watch. As anybody from the metro Boston area kind of knows, the city operates like a small town. | You can try. [140] In cooperation with the FBI, Gentile spoke with Turner's girlfriend, and she told him that Turner wanted him to speak with two of his ex-convict friends in Boston. The crime remains unsolved. [16][14] The witnesses believed them to be policemen. A little more than a year later, Donati was attacked outside his Revere home, according to the paper. Definitely Rick Abath, the guard on duty that night. Their presence, and this crime scene, tear at his heart and pride as each anniversary passes. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft - Wikipedia Building a museum, however, was not initially one of Isabella's main goals. Nora McGreevy is a former daily correspondent for Smithsonian. Nora McGreevy is a former daily correspondent for Smithsonian. Just over an hour later, the thieves made off with a staggering collection of art thats valued today at $500 million. [32] The last item taken from the Dutch Room was a bronze gu about 10 inches (25cm) tall. The stolen works were originally procured by art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (18401924) and were intended for permanent display at the museum with the rest of her collection. Terms of Use [21] They approached Abath at the security desk and asked if anyone else was in the museum. She is also a freelance journalist based in Chicago whose work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more. With the lesser works, they could be on someones wall, and you wouldnt really know that they were stolen. Also missing is The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt's only seascape. You know, I remember the 20th like it was yesterday. Marks niece, Darlene Finnigan, who was 26 at the time of the murder, tells the Globethat shortly before his death, Marks told her that hehad something big coming up and he wasnt sure if he was going to do it. At the time, Finnigan had assumed Marks was referring to selling cocaine. [7][8][6] No cameras had been installed inside the museum. I know that the Eagle Finial, the least valuable of all of the works, was seen in Hartford or at least [authorities] think it was seen by an informant in Hartford, in a grease pit of [person of interest] Bobby Gentiles. [40][41], The Storm on the Sea of Galilee Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black Rembrandt. [21] Abath complied, leaving the desk that contained the museum's only panic button to alert police. [32] The thieves may have taken Landscape with Obelisk believing that it was a Rembrandt; it was long attributed to him until it was quietly credited to his pupil Govert Flinck (161560) a few years before the heist. Were the works taken for love, money, ransom, glory, barter or for some tangled combination of them all?. As revelers celebrated St. Patricks Day around the city, two men disguised as Boston Police officers made off with 13 works from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum worth a total of $500 million. [141] Turner was freed in November 2019, one month after Stephen Rossetti. [3] This financial strain left the museum in poor condition; it lacked a climate control system and an insurance policy and was in need of basic building maintenance. (Bobby Guarente died in 2004 and Elene died in 2018.). Advertising Notice [27][28][29] They also removed a large Rembrandt self-portrait oil painting from the wall but left it leaning against a cabinet. [34], In the Short Gallery, five sketches by French artist Edgar Degas (18341917) were stolen. Other area museums had fail-safe systems that required night watchmen to place hourly phone calls with the police to indicate that conditions were normal. Boston police officers tell local media that the 1991 murder of Jimmy Marks might be linked to modern historys biggest art heist. [56][57], As Gardner's will decreed that nothing in her collection should be moved, the empty frames for the stolen paintings remain hanging in their respective locations in the museum as placeholders for their potential return. Other paintings and sketches by Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, douard Manet and Govert Flinck were stolen, along with a relatively valueless eagle finial and Chinese gu. By Sahar Fatima Globe Staff,Updated March 17, 2023, 12:00 a.m. On March 18, 1990, two thieves dressed as police officers robbed Boston's Isabella . Both of these artists are such masters of paint handling, Baer said, Rembrandt is a masculine show-off, Vermeer is quiet and poetic. Their brushwork brings the art to life in both the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and The Concert., One of the interpretations of that painting is that music is a balm for the soul, Baer said of the Vermeer, adding, We all need to have somewhere to go to feel comfort and some way to respond to what happens in our world. [91] McDevitt denied any involvement and refused to take a polygraph test. They called the security director, who entered the building with his keys and found nobody at the watch desk before calling the police. Directed by Colin Barnicle, This Is a Robbery is an episodic look at the entire saga, jumping back and forth through time to offer up theories, identify suspects, and even show up at the courthouse as one of the heists suspects walks out of jail more than a decade earlier than expected. Major art museums across the state and country are closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Now Palmer is releasing his new album, The Concert: Musings for Isabella, to mark the 30th anniversary. Theres literally nothing that you can file a Freedom of Information Act on for this case, because its never gotten to that level. [139] The jury found him guilty and he was sent to prison. Whether they were lawyers or police officers or even some of the criminals that we had met while my dad went around Boston, driving around writing columns while we were in the backseat. The frame for Chez Tortoni was left at the security director's desk. [26][24] While on patrol, Abath briefly opened and closed a side door,[16] a move that some believe could have been a signal to the thieves parked outside. Born in 1840 to a wealthy New York family, Isabella went on to marry a man from another established family named Jack Gardner, who was deemed "Boston's most eligible bachelor." She lived a comfortable life up until age 27, when a series of events sent her into a deep depression. Why Wasn't The Isabella Gardner Museum Heist Ever Solved? - Bustle [82], Hawley felt this was a strong lead. [158][160][161] The authorities were skeptical of Youngworth's veracity, and only offered partial immunity. A production still of This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist, showing the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum after the heist. [citation needed] The FBI thinks the other thief was his friend and Merlino associate George Reissfelder. Cookie Policy Authorities were initially suspicious of the two young guards on duty that night. [117] Beyond this, no conclusive evidence was found to indicate he ever had the paintings. [104] Royce shared his plan with others and believes associate Stephen Rossetti may have ordered the robbery or shared it with someone else. The story hits close to home for Barnicle and his brother Nick, who co-produced the film: Having grown up in the Boston area as the son of former Boston Globe columnist Mike Barnicle, Colin told Boston.com that as the brothers began researching the case, they kept running into familiar names. Every time he says something in the media that is different from what he said in that grand jury, he gets pulled back in. They also felt "with that same confidence" that the artwork was transported to Connecticut and Philadelphia in the years following the theft, with an attempted sale in Philadelphia in 2002. How did you decide what to prioritize among the four episodes to best tell this story? [167] Three months later, Ferrara heard news about the Gardner theft,[167] after which Donati visited him again and confirmed to Ferrara that he was involved in the robbery. I think if the docuseries doesnt help, then theyre gone. We wanted to make sure that we had a four-part series that had a narrative arc where somebody from Des Moines, Iowa, can watch it and somebody from Boston can watch it and feel like they know just as much about the case. According to the tip Amore received, just days before he died, Marks was reportedly heard bragging about possessing two of the stolen paintings and that he had hidden some of the stolen artworks, reports Edmund H. Mahony for the Boston Herald. According to the Globe, early on the morning of March 18, 1990, two men dressed like police officers talked their way into the museum, restrained two guards, and left with 13 pieces, including three Rembrandts, among them his only seascape, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee; Vermeers The Concert; works by Flinck, Manet, and Degas; an ancient Chinese vase, and the finial. [138] Turner knew Gentile through Guarente, and in 2010, wrote a letter to Gentile asking if he could call Turner's former girlfriend to assist in recovering the Gardner paintings. I think we sat down on camera with about 60 people, and only half of those make it into the series. March 18 marks the unsolved crime's 30th anniversary and the notorious event continues to take a cultural and emotional toll. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was constructed under the guidance of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (18401924) to house her personal art collection. Amore brought these findings to the media with the hopes that renewed press attention might yield more clues, he says. It's important for us to know what's missing, he told me, and to do what we can, energy-wise, to try to bring it back., At the Gardner museum, standing next to the empty frame that once held Vermeers long-gone The Concert, the 41-year-old musician shared a dream he's been holding onto: that someone might hear his new recording maybe another musician and be inspired to seek out images of the lost paintings. 30 Years Ago, An Audacious Museum Heist In Boston : NPR The motion sensors show us the path the thieves took that night, he calmly explains to the listeners, that's the route we're following.. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Authorities say new information on a 1991 cold case murder. In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, 13 works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. [130][134] He died in July 1991. [102][103] Royce was in prison at the time of the robbery. While the Gardner story is more well-known in the Boston area, the theft will soon become familiar to a worldwide audience thanks to This Is a Robbery: The Worlds Biggest Art Heist, a new Netflix docuseries that arrives Wednesday on the streaming platform. [27][23] They removed The Storm on the Sea of Galilee and A Lady and Gentleman in Black from the wall and threw them on the marble floor, shattering their glass frames. The movement data was also captured on a hard drive, which remained untouched. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Netflix literally has 500 million people subscribed to it. She said Storm on the Sea of Galilee illustrates Rembrandt's skill as a storyteller who captured the wealth of human emotion we see in each disciple's response to the crisis. Everybody knows each other, and youre one degree away from everybody else. The killer had unscrewed the lightbulb over the door to ensure that the victim wouldnt see what was coming, making Marks the victim of a classic mob-style hit, reports Boston 25 News. Your Privacy Rights Members of the group told the paper they gave the FBI several addresses Donati had a connection to in the area. [1], By the 1980s, the museum was running low on funds. She is also a freelance journalist based in Chicago whose work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more. [21] The shorter man told Abath that he looked familiar that they may have a warrant for his arrest, demanding that Abath emerge from behind the desk to provide identification. As the collection and its layout are intended to be permanent, empty frames remain hanging both in homage to the missing works and as placeholders for their return. [26][55] The selection of works and the thieves' rough treatment of the artwork has led investigators to believe that the thieves were not experts commissioned to steal particular works. All have denied any knowledge or have provided leads that proved fruitless, despite the offer of reward money and reduced or canceled prison sentences if they had disclosed information leading to recovery of the artworks. [8], An independent consultant reviewed the museum's security operations in 1988 and determined that they were on par with most other museums but recommended improvements. It has focused primarily on the Boston Mafia, which was in the midst of an internal gang war during the period. Barnicle says he hopes the new series will bring the plight of the paintings to an even wider audiencewith the lingering hope that someone watching might know something new about the arts whereabouts. I was really confused, he recalled, It was a kind of a mind-flip for me.. He was 27 when he paintedStorm on the Sea of Galilee.. The octogenarian was released from prison in 2019 after serving 54 months on an unrelated charge. Stay up to date with everything Boston. Jesus, Bobby why didnt you steal the Mona Lisa? Calantropo recalled asking him. [91], The FBI announced significant progress in their investigation in March 2013. The pair proceeded to remove 13 treasured artworks on display in the lavishly decorated gallery, smashing the protective glass of two Rembrandt paintings and cutting the canvases from their gilded frames. They also picked up a self-portrait sketch by Rembrandt, five sketches by French Impressionist Edgar Degas, a small portrait of a man by douard Manet and an ancient Chinese bronze vessel. And then something happened in August 2019 I dont know what but they just completely backed off. Music is one way and art is another.. In 2013, the FBI announced that it had identified the two thieves with a high degree of confidence. In 2015, the organization revealed the names of its primary suspects: George Reissfelder and Leonard DiMuzio, two associates of the late mobster Carmello Merlino. [61][62][63] This reward was extended following an outpouring of tips from the public. [91] He was also a known flag aficionado, and fit the description of the larger robber except for his thinning red hair. She was able to see Storm on the Sea of Galilee before it disappeared when she a graduate student in art history. My brother and I, were from the area, but the other producers werent, so wed run stuff by them. [1] The museum opened to the public in 1903, and Gardner continued to expand the collection and arrange it until she died in 1924. The number of paintings attributed to Vermeer is disputed. [114] Gentile maintained he was telling the truth and demanded a retest. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was constructed under the guidance of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) to house her personal art collection. More than 30 years after the legendary art heist, a man has come forward with a possible new clue about the artwork stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, according to The Boston Globe. [34][54] While some of the paintings were valuable, the thieves passed other valuable works by Raphael, Botticelli and Michelangelo and left them undisturbed, opting to take relatively valueless items such as the gu and finial. All the new movies and TV shows streaming this month. Receive the latest news and breaking updates, straight from our newsroom to your inbox. [60] In 2017, it was doubled to $10 million with an expiration date set for the end of the year. [24], In 2015, the FBI released a security video from the museum on the night before the theft showing Abath admitting an unidentified man into the museum to converse at the security desk. To the right another stands on the verge of breaking out into song. Researching the case was like learning the game of chess, docuseries director Colin Barnicle tells Town & Countrys Norman Vanamee. [135] No clues were found in his apartment or the homes of friends and relatives,[130][135] but his siblings recall a painting similar to Chez Tortoni in his bedroom. The thieves departed at 2:45 a.m. after making two separate trips to their car with the artwork in tow; the night guards, their mouths duct-taped shut, remained trapped in the museum basement until the police, called in by the next set of guards to arrive at the museum, found them around 8:15 a.m. A woman sits to the man's left, hands poised over the keys of a harpsichord. Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com. [74] One of Abath's colleagues told journalists that if Abath had opened the door routinely as he maintains, supervisors would have noticed him doing so from their computer printouts and stopped the behavior. [22][23] The thieves examined the guards' wallets and threatened that they knew where the guards lived and told them that if they would not inform the authorities, they would receive a reward in about a year. [113] He submitted to a polygraph test which indicated he was lying when he denied any knowledge of the theft or location of the artwork. At her home in Cambridge, Anne Hawley, director emerita of the Gardner Museum, pulled out a catalog and opened its pages to an image of the rarest art piece stolen three decades ago The Concert by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. [109] She claimed that when her husband got sick with cancer in the early 2000s, he gave the paintings to Gentile for safekeeping. [119] In the basement, they found a copy of the Boston Herald from March 1990 reporting the theft along with a piece of paper indicating what each piece might sell for on the black market. [112] Federal authorities indicted Gentile on drug charges in 2012, likely in an attempt to pressure Gentile for information about the Gardner works. The FBI believes that the robbery was planned by a criminal organization. I've been here for 15 years now looking to fill these frames, he said standing the Dutch Room gallery on the museum's second floor. [72] The guards and witnesses in the street described one thief as about 5feet 9inches (1.75m) to 5feet 10inches (1.78m) in his late 30s with a medium build, and the other as 6feet 0inches (1.83m) to 6feet 1inch (1.85m) in his early 30s with a heavier build. [26], As they prepared to leave, the thieves checked the guards again and asked if they were comfortable. She felt they should go back up, so that it would remind visitors, and ourselves, of what we had lost and be a sign of mourning for all of us.. Cookie Policy Soon both men were in the Short Gallery,[29][34] where they began removing screws for a frame displaying a Napoleonic flag, likely an effort to steal the flag. April 9, 2021 4:17pm. Individuals whose information leads to the restitution of some, but not all, of the works will receive a partial reward. The grainy footage shows Abath, who was on guard during the day of March 17, opening the same side doors used by the thieves and admitting an unidentified man in a waist-length coat and an upturned collar, as the Times reported. [7] The museum's security policy required that one guard would patrol the galleries with a flashlight and walkie-talkie while the other would sit at the security desk. [83] They explained that the artwork was stolen to reduce a prison sentence, but as the opportunity had passed, there was no longer a motive to keep the artwork and they wanted to negotiate a return. I believe the secret of the location died with Bobby.. [152] That night, Youngworth picked up Mashberg from the Boston Herald offices and drove him to a warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Among them was The Concert, one of only 34 known paintings by Johannes Vermeer and thought to be the most valuable unrecovered painting in the world. as its board of trustees considered the cost prohibitive,[4] but additional security guards were hired. Another former mobster, Robert Gentile, has long maintained his innocence despite a bevy of evidence pointing to his involvement in the crime. I wont say that the genre of true crime caught up to it, but if we had gotten the green light to do this in 2014, it probably wouldnt have been as good.

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