The movie "Three Old Gunners" tells the story of three old men who, after retirement, lost their pensions to earn a living, so they joined forces to rob the bank. However, the good idea of "taking care of the elderly" that runs through the film allows the screenwriter to cleverly leave a legal open space for the "Grandpa Gang" theft group at the end - the three elderly people successfully robbed the bank, but got rid of the police investigation, and donated all the money they snatched to the foundation after a reasonable distribution.
However, in real life, society does not "turn a blind eye" to theft. The theft caused huge losses, and many of the stolen works of art are still missing or have been returned to their original owners after a long period of time.
The thieves lacked "artistic accomplishment", and the most important exhibits were spared
In 1990, 13 works of art worth more than $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, considered one of the largest art thefts in history.
Without leaving behind any flawed theft techniques, priceless exhibits, and hitherto unaccounted for thieves, this art theft brings together almost all the elements that detective novelists are passionate about.
On March 18, 1990, as the whole of Boston celebrated St. Patrick's Day, a red sports car pulled up at the entrance to the Gardner Museum, and two men posing as police officers quietly observed everything around them until the crowds of revelers in the neighborhood gradually cleared. At 1:24 a.m. on the 19th, the two pressed the alarm at the entrance of the museum, which also became the starting point of the 30-year unsolved case.
After signaling to the security guards on duty that they needed to enter the museum for inspection and obtaining their consent, the two entered the museum smoothly, and locked the two security guards in the basement with handcuffs, and they eventually stole 13 masterpieces by famous artists, including Rembrandt's Christ who met the storm on the Sea of Galilee, The Lady and The Gentleman in Black, Degas's The Three Jockeys, Vermeer's Concert, and Manet, with a total value estimated at $500 million. Today, these works of art can only be displayed in the form of empty frames.
Rembrandt's The Storm in the Sea of Galilee | profile picture
Among them, the Baroque painting "The Storm of the Sea of Galilee" is Rembrandt's only work of marine scenes. In contrast to the tones of light and dark, a sailing ship rises and falls on the rough sea, and most of the dark colors in the picture are like the huge waves on the paving, suppressing the emotions of the viewer. At the stern of the painting, Jesus can be seen sitting as if communicating something with the apostles. There are 14 people in the painting, and many experts believe that Rembrandt added his own image to the work.
Inexplicably, the two thieves had passed by Botticelli and Raphael's works and had enough time to loot the rest of the artwork, but they did not take any action, even the town treasure "The Plunder of Europa" survived. Some people have judged that the two thieves who robbed the house may be "amateur players" who lack artistic attainments, and they do not know which paintings are more valuable, which is also a blessing in disguise.
After the theft, because it was difficult to determine the scope of the perpetrators, the initial investigation once led to the Boston police suspects ranging from black market stamp collectors to Boston gangsters and even Vatican officials. As the years passed, the police investigating the case reached an impasse as many of the suspects had died. It is reported that the museum is still working with the FEDERAL BUREAU of Investigation and other agencies to find clues, and offered a reward of $10 million for the lost work.
"Spider-Man" stole a famous painting and "went along" 4 paintings
However, unlike the lack of "artistic accomplishment" of the thieves in the gardner museum art theft case in Boston, the protagonist of the famous painting theft case at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, France in 2010 seems to be "superior" - because he described himself as coming for his beloved artwork, comparable to the "gentleman thief" Lupin. Lupin was a quick-witted and charismatic thief with the same name as Sherlock Holmes at the end of the 19th century, whose record of never losing his hand made the rich feel frightened.
The theft of famous paintings from the Musée de Arte Moderne in Paris, France, is known by the art community as a "case of the century", the museum is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, mainly collecting works of art from the 20th century to the present, with a collection of more than 11,000 pieces, and is one of the top museums of modern and contemporary art in France. Due to the strong artistic atmosphere of Paris and the high value of the lost works of art, the theft has attracted the attention of the whole world.
Investigators investigate the stolen site at the Musée Des Beaux-Arts des Beaux-Arts in Paris, May 20, 2010. | Visual China
In the early hours of May 20, 2010, the main culprit, Tomic, and his accomplices first sprayed sulfuric acid on the supports of the museum's windows, which were easily dismantled after they were corroded. Subsequently, he dismantled the window, removed the glass, cut the corresponding anti-theft equipment, and successfully entered the museum. It is reported that there was a failure in the museum's security alert system at the time of the crime.
Because Tomic is a rock climbing enthusiast, the long-term "crawling and rolling" theft practice has enabled him to train the technique of flying cornices, and he has also been described as "Spider-Man". In the trial after his arrest, he said he did not use the "means of the century", and the museum officials said that they only saw a window broken and a padlock cut at the scene, which Tomic described as "the easiest but also the biggest robbery".
According to Tomić, he originally came for the works of the Cubist master Léger, but after dismantling Léger's works, he had plenty of time, so he also stole the works of Picasso, Matisse, Braque and Modigliani, and the total value of the 5 famous paintings was about 109 million euros, and even he confessed that he did not expect to steal 4 more works.
Six years later, 3 criminals were sentenced separately, but the 5 famous paintings were difficult to find. One of the criminals confessed to the police that he had thrown all the paintings in the trash out of fear. Given that there are no garbage trucks or garbage disposal sites to report on the famous paintings, the chances of retrieving these paintings are slim to none.
After nearly 50 years of stolen guns, it is finally back open to the audience
After nearly 50 years of exile, a rare rifle from the more than 200-year-old American Revolutionary War has been returned to the public eye and returned to its rightful owner.
The 5-foot-long rifle was built in 1775 by Pennsylvania arms dealer John Christian Ott, and it is rumored that it produces only 16 guns a year, so each gun is a superior one. Delicate brass wire inlays dot the surface of the gun, while Ott's signature and date of manufacture are cleverly engraved on the barrel. It can be said that "Ott" is synonymous with rare varieties in the gun industry.
On October 26, 1971, the local media in Philadelphia first reported on the Otter gun theft that had occurred for several weeks, but the police were afraid that publishing the report would easily cause panic among thieves and discard the rifle in a hurry.
According to reports, one morning, during the gun exhibition, the thief easily pried open the display case with a crowbar, and in broad daylight, the old precious gun disappeared. Since then, it has been difficult to find his whereabouts for decades.
In the years that followed, the search for the rifle did not stop. In 2009, local police restarted an investigation into a series of stolen artifacts at the time, working with the FBI and seeking help from collectors and academics.
Specific information about the stolen Otter rifle was found in references by the late long rifle expert Schumway, but the mystery of where the gun was hidden was not revealed until last year. Last year, Pennsylvania antiques dealer Kelly Gizele bought the collection, which included the gun, and he handed the rifle over to the FBI. In early November, the rifle, which had been adrift for nearly 50 years without changing color, was finally reopened to the public.