S4 Ep22: The Largest Art Heist in American History

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When several men dressed as cops entered the Isabella Gardner Museum in March of 1990, the nighttime security detail didn't think much of it -- until one of the "officers" handcuffed the guards' wrists and announced, "This is a robbery." Thirty-four years later, theories abound about who was behind the largest -- and most mystifying -- art heist in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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Transcript

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0:15.0	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society or even earn the label Crime of the Century.
0:23.0	But the stories that made headlines in decades past aren't necessarily remembered today. I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author,
0:26.0	and in each episode of this show,
0:28.0	I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today
0:31.0	but was huge when it happened. This is crimes of the centuries. Oh, In the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum in Boston, the first thing you notice is the magnificent courtyard which is a
1:06.0	lush verdant romantic setting that feels like it belongs to the Montague's or the Capulates in Italy during the Renaissance,
1:14.8	situated inside a balconyed Palazzo owned by a family of wealth and taste.
1:21.6	Really, do yourself a favor and Google the courtyard there. I've never been in
1:25.5	person but it's now my mental happy place based on the photos alone. Now the second thing you notice about the museum is that some of the
1:36.7	rooms in that four-story house it was in fact the wealthy and spirited Mrs
1:41.8	Gardner's home before it was a museum have empty frames on the wall where you would expect to find some piece of astonishing art.
1:50.0	But most who visit know this is because on the morning of March 18th 1990
1:56.4	13 works of art from Mrs Gardner's dazzling collection were taken and have not been found. Not a one.
2:05.0	The gates at the Isabella Gardner Museum will stay locked while authorities search for clues in the daring weekend heist.
2:14.0	There are some significant paintings missing.
2:16.6	As by significant is a couple of Rembrandts and of Ramea.
2:21.5	That was a CBS news report back on March 19th, 1990.
2:25.0	You might be wondering why the frames remained.
2:29.0	We're not totally certain.
2:31.0	Sure, it's tough hauling out framed artwork from a museum without being noticed, so it's possible
2:36.7	the thieves had thought better of that and had cut. I mean, knifed, really. the irreplaceable masterpieces out of their frames to better abscond with them.
2:47.0	Although that can't be the whole story because one of the pieces of artwork was as small as a postage stamp. The stolen works included three
	...

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