The Gardner Museum heist

Two thieves dressed as police officers stole 13 works from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The works, including pieces by Vermeer and Rembrandt, have never been recovered.

The estimated value, often given as about $500 million, is not exact.

Context

In the early hours of 18 March 1990 two men wearing police uniforms told a guard they were responding to a disturbance. The guard let them in, and the thieves handcuffed him and a second guard and took them to the basement. The robbery lasted about 81 minutes, and the thieves left around 2:45 a.m.

The 13 stolen items included Vermeer's The Concert, two Rembrandts, a Manet, five Degas drawings, a Chinese bronze beaker and a bronze eagle finial. The museum says the empty frames remain on the walls as placeholders, in line with the founder's will, which required the collection to stay arranged as she left it.

Valuations are rough because the works are not for sale. A figure of about $500 million is often cited. The museum offers a reward of $10 million for information leading to the safe return of the works.

The FBI has said it believes it knows who carried out the theft, naming two suspects who have since died, but the works have not been found. The statute of limitations on the crime has expired.