Five things you probably didn't know about the biggest art heist in history

Most art galleries and museums are famous for the art they contain. London’s National Gallery has Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’; ‘The Starry Night’ meanwhile, is held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, alongside other famous artworks. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, however, is now more famous for the artwork that is no longer there. On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art estimated to be worth over half a billion dollars were stolen from the museum in a daring heist. This incident remains the biggest art theft in history. A new episode of a documentary series explores this famous theft and features an interview with one of the guards present that night. The museum’s founder and namesake, Isabella Stewart Gardner, was a notable figure and built the museum to house her extensive art collection. The stolen artworks, including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, are still missing. The investigation later took an interesting turn when two Frenchmen allegedly connected to the Corsican mob attempted to sell stolen paintings from the museum. The stolen artwork included a Rembrandt and a Vermeer. The motive behind the theft and the choice of the stolen items, including a Napoleonic flag ornament, suggest a fascinating narrative. Another interesting fact is that this was not the first time a Rembrandt had been stolen from a museum in Boston. The stolen art remains missing, and the case continues to captivate the public’s attention.