81 Minutes

"Mrs. Jack Gardner is one of the seven wonders of Boston. There is nobody like her in any city in this country. She is a millionaire Bohemienne. She is the leader of the smart set, but she often leads where none dare follow… She imitates nobody; everything she does is novel and original." — A BOSTON REPORTER

The Background

Isabella Stewart Gardner was born to an affluent family in April of 1840. Her father made his fortune importing Irish linen and in wisely investing his money. Living a privileged life, Isabella was educated at a private institution in New York City and then attended a finishing school in Paris where she met her future husband, Jack Gardner, Jr. They married in 1860. Tragedy struck in 1865 as their 2 year old son died of pneumonia. This devastating loss propelled Isabella into a spiraling depression. Her family physician prescribed travel abroad to focus her mental and emotional energies elsewhere. Her husband Jack took Isabella to northern Europe and Russia. This was the first of many trips abroad, later including Egypt and the Middle East (1874-75), and Asia (1883-84). Isabella reveled in travel, keeping elaborate journals of her visits. On these global excursions, Isabella developed a love for works of antiquity.

In 1878, she attended the readings of the first professor of art history at Harvard University; he invited her to join the Dante Society. The professor encouraged her to begin collecting rare books and manuscripts, beginning with early editions of Dante's works. In 1886, Isabella met Harvard student Bernard Berenson. A connoisseur of Italian Renaissance Art, he became Isabella's chief art advisor. Under his recommendations, Isabella purchased many masterpieces for her storied collection.

In 1898, tragedy struck again in the Gardner home. Isabella's husband suffered a stroke and passed away. Six weeks after his death, Isabella forged ahead with her plans to buy a piece of property and build a world class museum. Construction of Isabella’s museum began in 1899, and was completed in late 1901. Isabella resided in the private fourth floor living quarters, devoting herself to arranging works of art in the historic galleries on floors one, two and three. Her collection included paintings, sculptures, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts.

She died in 1924, leaving a museum “for the education and enjoyment of the public forever.” She provided an endowment to operate the museum, stipulating in her will that nothing in the galleries should be changed, and no items be acquired or sold from the collection.

The Burglary

On March 21st, 1990, things changed drastically.

The caper reads like a Hollywood movie, another installment of "Ocean's Eleven," or "Now You See It."

In the wee hours of March 21st, a vehicle pulled up to the side entrance of the Museum doors. Two men, posing as police officers, requested entrance, citing a call received about a disturbance. Once inside, the men in police uniforms handcuffed the security guard responsible for letting them in and another guard on duty. Once the two guards were neutralized, the thieves spent eighty-one minutes stealing some of the most priceless works of art on record, left the building, and vanished into thin air.

Motion detectors monitored the thieves' movements. The artists concentrated on the Dutch Room, where they cut Rembrandt's "Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee" and "A Lady and a Gentleman in Black" from their frames. They also stole works by Vermeer, a Chinese Bronze a small self-portrait etching by Rembrandt, and other rare pieces of art. In less than ninety minutes, the thieves stole approximately $300 million dollars in artwork, the single largest property theft in the world.

Here we are, thirty plus years later and the heist and its perpetrators remains a mystery. The Gardner Museum, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the US Attorney's office consider this an open case. Active leads are sought in the safe return of the art. The Museum is offering a $10 million dollar reward for information leading directly to the safe return of the stolen works.

The Baffling Mystery

Thirteen works in total were stolen from the Gardner Museum. Today, visitors to the museum will see empty frames sprinkled throughout the gallery, representing the lost works of art. Remaining an open case, the Gardner Heist continues to baffle investigators. The FBI considers the possibility of an inside job. This assertion is based on the time spent in the museum, the apparent knowledge of where the desired art was, and the fact that surveillance footage was removed. Spending 81 minutes in the museum leads one to believe that the thieves were comfortable in the midst of the heist, not fearing the arrival of the police. If one or both security guards played a behind the scenes role, it would make sense that the thieves could take their time.

Other suspects include mobsters operating in the Boston Area at the time. The FBI believes the prime suspects to be members of the Carmello Merlino Mob. George Reissfelder and Leonard DiMuzio matched the descriptions as given by the security guards. Both maintained their innocence until their untimely deaths less than one year after the theft. One was murdered, the other overdosed on cocaine. Investigators believe both were killed to keep them from talking about the largest art theft crime committed on American soil.

Interestingly enough, these priceless works could be hanging in someone's personal gallery today, with the homeowners leading visitors to believe that the works are prints or fine reproductions. We may never know the whereabouts of these valuable pieces of art, but if one comes forward leading to the artwork's recovery, he or she can pocket $10 million dollars, more than enough money to start their very own art collection.