Why do thieves steal famous paintings they can never sell?
In Boston, empty frames have hung on a museum wall since 1990, waiting for a Vermeer that may be the most valuable stolen object on Earth.
▶ Start the storyMostly because they can't resist the maths, and only discover the catch afterwards. A great painting can be worth millions and weigh just a few kilograms, and many places holding multimillion-dollar collections have surprisingly weak security. But a famous masterpiece is almost impossible to sell. Any buyer will know it is stolen, advertising it invites a call to the police, and the new owner could never show it to anyone. So stolen masterpieces tend to be held for ransom, used as collateral between criminals, or even handed back for nothing. Only about 10% of stolen art is ever recovered.
The most famous unsolved case began in the early hours of March 18, 1990, in Boston. Two men dressed as police officers talked their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, tied up the guards, and walked out with 13 works, cutting canvases out of their frames with a blade. Among them was The Concert, one of only 34 paintings attributed to Vermeer, possibly the most valuable stolen object in the world.
No arrests have ever been made and nothing has been recovered, despite a $10 million reward. Because Isabella Stewart Gardner's will forbade rearranging her collection, the empty frames still hang on the walls, waiting.
Quiz me
0/3
Recap
A masterpiece is easy to steal and almost impossible to sell, because everyone knows its face.
Surprising fact · Vermeer's The Concert, stolen in 1990, may be the most valuable stolen object in the world.
Sources (2)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (23 claims) cites at least one of these.