Art theft: Demand creates supply. For everyone and about everything A valuable painting is stolen what to do

Photo: Konstantin Vasilev/Rusmediabank.ru

On August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The criminal was found only after 2 years. The motives for the kidnapping surprised even the investigators.

“Portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo” is the full name of the painting by the great artist Leonardo da Vinci. "Mona Lisa" was and remains the most famous painting canvas in the world. And this is not surprising: the portrait of a mysterious stranger still hides many unsolved mysteries. However, scientists still managed to resolve one of them.

A lively debate over the identity of the model who posed for da Vinci did not subside for centuries. Some argued that the picture is nothing more than a self-portrait of the artist himself. Others were sure that Leonardo actually painted a young man, whom he later "dressed" in a woman's dress.

The controversy died down when, in 2005, historians discovered the notes of a Florentine official. Thanks to them, the researchers were able to prove that a certain merchant named Francesco del Giocondo commissioned Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of his wife, who intended to give her in honor of the birth of their son. The picture was painted in 3 copies, one of which has survived to this day.

It is a pity, of course, that the solution turned out to be so simple. However, the masterpiece did not suffer from this discovery. It has remained a masterpiece. Although many times the painting was on the verge between life and death when vandals tried to destroy it. Paint was poured onto the canvas and stones were thrown at it. But what happened to "" at the beginning of the twentieth century shocked the whole world.

On August 21, 1911, the "Mona Lisa" simply disappeared from French. The press immediately raised a fuss. The director of the museum was fired, who, shortly before the theft, made a very unsuccessful joke in an interview for a popular newspaper. He said that it was impossible to steal a painting from the Louvre. "It's like taking away the cathedral Notre Dame of Paris whole!" the director exclaimed. A year later, the Gioconda evaporated.

The case was entrusted to the experienced detective Alphonse Bertillon. None at first active searches the offender was not carried out. Everyone expected him to show up himself and demand a ransom. After all, it was almost impossible to sell such a masterpiece, the gendarmes believed. Some magazines even placed ads on their pages asking anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of the painting to contact the editors. Some publications even offered generous rewards. But time passed, and there was still no news.

Alphonse Bertillon decided to look for the criminal among the previously convicted. The detective had a whole file on them, which contained information about the height, size of the head, arms and legs of each recidivist. This method was actively practiced by detectives in those years. But Bertillon did not take fingerprints. He was sure that this method was unscientific. But in vain! According to historians, there was one clear imprint on the frame that remained in the museum, according to which it would not be difficult to calculate the criminal. Especially if Bertillon had a card index not of the parameters of the bodies of the convicts, but of their fingerprints. After all, the criminal really had problems with the law.

Alphonse Bertillon suspected museum employees of the theft of the century. He intended to take measurements from them and compare them with his filing cabinet. What if one of them turns out to be a repeat offender? Then the circle narrows.

Only now there were no computers and it would take years to compare the data of the museum workers with Bertillon's file cabinet, which numbered more than 100 thousand people.

And the years went by. Probably, the gendarmes themselves did not believe that the masterpiece would return when the owner of one art gallery in Italy, calling himself Alfredo Jerry. Jerry stated that on December 13, 1913, a man named Leonardo came to him and offered him the Mona Lisa. The owner of the gallery thought that Leonardo was joking, but he brought the painting to him for examination. The painting turned out to be genuine. Alfredo Jerry went to the police. Alfredo went to the second meeting with the kidnapper, accompanied by police officers, who tied up the criminal.

It turned out to be the Italian Vincenzo Perugia, who, as the French detective Bertillon suggested, at one time really worked as a house painter in the museum. He waited until the museum was empty, removed the picture from the wall, cut it out of the frame and hid it in his bosom. Steal the canvas, contrary to the words former director The Louvre turned out to be quite simple. To the question: “Why did you do this?” Perugia replied that he simply wanted to restore justice and return the painting to its historical homeland, Italy. According to the criminal, the painting was illegally removed from there by the Emperor of France, Napoleon. The judges were moved and sentenced Vincenzo ... to just one year in prison.
Perugia did not know that Leonardo da Vinci sent the painting to France himself. At one time, he sold it to the French king Francis I.

today picture brilliant artist still in the Louvre. It is kept in a kind of bulletproof glass sarcophagus. A certain microclimate is maintained inside the sarcophagus, which contributes to a better preservation of the masterpiece. The Mona Lisa is guarded by an ingenious alarm system, worth more than 7 million dollars. The painting is insured for $3 million. The masterpiece itself has not yet been appreciated by anyone. According to experts, it is impossible to do this, because it simply has no price.

He writes in a very non-trivial and funny way on the topic of art history. Author of the book "Disgusting Art. The humor and horror of masterpieces of painting tells about the bizarre fate of the painting by Raphael, stolen by the Germans during the war, which she personally considers the most expensive of the stolen paintings.

Ratings of stolen art are usually headed by all sorts of whistled Picassos, whose prices at world auctions were more than a hundred million dollars. Unlike this picture - which no one appreciated the money. But, in my personal opinion, it is she who is the most valuable of the lost. Because Picasso painted thousands of paintings, and Raphael only dozens. Admire this masterpiece with me.

How did it happen that this masterpiece was stolen? Everything is quite predictable: World War II.

The painting, like Leonardo da Vinci's The Lady with an Ermine, was bought in Italy in the early 1800s by Prince Czartoryski, who brought them home to Poland. There she was kept. long years, from the 1880s in the Museum of Princes in Krakow.

There are versions according to which "Portrait young man» (1513-1514) is a self-portrait of the artist. This opinion is based on the similarity with the only reliable (according to Vasari) image of Raphael - in the crowd on the fresco "School of Athens".

In 1939, the three most valuable paintings from the Czartoryski collection were packed in a chest with the letters LRR (Leonardo, Rembrandt, Raphael) and hidden. However, the collection was found by the Germans and sent to the Reich. For a short time, the portrait was in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, but eventually it was to become part of the exposition of the Hitler Museum in Linz. Through unknown circumstances - possibly as a gift from Hitler - the painting came into the hands of Hans Frank, the Governor-General of Poland. Until the end of the war, it probably hung in Frank's residence in Wawel. It was there that she was at least last seen.

A copy of the painting, kept in the Academy of Carrara (Bergamo). It is believed that the colors in these lists are "true" than on the only color reproduction postcard of the thirties.

Fleeing from Krakow before the Soviet offensive, Frank ordered that "his property" be taken to Germany - first to Silesia, and then to his own villa in Neuhaus am Schliersee. His plenipotentiary for art, Wilhelm Palesier, allegedly confused the portrait with another work, which eventually led to his disappearance.

A copy in the Canterbury City Council Museums and Galleries (UK), she is in the first photo in the post

The Americans arrested Frank on May 3, 1945, before trial for war crimes (he was executed in 1946 by Nuremberg). The Polish representative to the Allied Art Retrieval Commission noted some of the paintings stolen by Frank and demanded their return on behalf of the Czartoryski Museum. However, the portrait of a young man and 843 other items were out of stock. (But the “Lady with an Ermine” was found and returned.)

A still from The Simpsons Season 8, Episode 22, "Angry Abe Simpson and his half-baked grandson in The Curse of the Flying Piranhas"

After the war, the painting was not found, and it is not known what happened to it. Sometimes there are some rumors, but they all turn out to be groundless.

In 2016, the Czartoryski collection was sold to Poland - with the right to claim this painting if it ever resurfaces (as well as 843 other missing works from the same collection). Sometimes some of these items pop up (carpet, crucifix).

An empty photo frame hangs next to a Leonardo painting in a museum

How much would the "Portrait" cost if it appeared now? No, it's state property.

A still from Clooney's The Monuments Men, suggesting the painting was destroyed

But if the Czartoryskis had reserved the right to it and put it up for auction as their legal property, then the portrait could really surpass Leonardo’s “Savior of the World” for half a billion (because his biography is more reliable and generally prettier picture by her own). And he would fly away to some Arabs ...

On the topic of how much precious the Fritz stole and how surprising it was that almost everything was returned, I recommend documentary from National Geographic. In Russian under the name "Defenders cultural heritage"(in English - The Monuments Men). Standard documentary western TV film about art. Much more exciting and logical than the eponymous film directed by Clooney.

The abduction of the "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci

More than a hundred years ago, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa became the most famous painting in the world after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris on August 21, 1911.

Stolen by a certain Vincenzo Peruggia, who claimed to have fallen in love with the Mona Lisa as soon as he looked into her eyes, the painting sat in his kitchen for two years. "Gioconda", another name for this unique painting became a worldwide sensation. The notoriety was helpful in finding the painting, as it was impossible to sell it to any collector willing to shell out.

Peruggia, a Parisian worker who once worked at the Louvre, simply pulled the painting off the wall the day the museum closed and left the building, hiding the masterpiece under his clothes. Although the thief claimed that he had stolen the painting from patriotic considerations, the prospect of making a fortune from the sale of the canvas was the true motive for the theft. The Italians, of course, never forgot about the origin of the painting, so they actively advocated returning the painting to Florence. This heist became one of the most famous painting thefts in history.

The largest robbery of the American Museum of Art

On March 18, 1990, thieves dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and carried out the largest robbery in US history, which has not yet been solved. The thieves handcuffed the night watchmen of the museum under the pretext that they had a warrant for their arrest.

Despite the fact that they were captured by security cameras and detected by motion sensors, the criminals stayed at the crime scene for 81 minutes and no one stopped them. According to some estimates, the value of one of the stolen paintings was $200 million. This is the "Concert" by Jan Vermeer, written in the second half of the 17th century.

Also among the 13 stolen masterpieces was Rembrandt's "Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee". The cost of all the stolen paintings was estimated at 300 million dollars, however, some experts argued that these paintings could be worth much more. Many of the paintings were cut out of their frames, which led investigators to assume that the perpetrators did not really understand something about art.

Robbery of the Munch Museum in Oslo

On August 22, 2004, masked gunmen broke into the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway in broad daylight and stole two paintings by Edvard Munch, The Scream and The Madonna. The masterpieces were found by the police in 2006, and each of the paintings showed signs of damage, so it took another 2 years for their restoration before they returned to their place in the museum.

The Scream is one of the world's most recognizable paintings.

"Scream" is the most famous picture artist and one of the most recognizable in the world. Its cost is 82 million dollars, according to The Telegraph.

Museum robbery in Zurich

In February 2008, gunmen broke into the Museum of the Emil Bührle Foundation Collection in Zurich, Switzerland and stole 4 masterpieces worth $140 million in total. This is the largest theft of works of art in Swiss history.

"Poppy field near Vetheuil" Claude Monet

$140 million worth of art was stolen in Switzerland in 2008

The Poppy Field near Vetheuil by Claude Monet was one of the stolen paintings. Also, the criminals took away such masterpieces as "Ludovik Lepic and his daughters" by Edgar Degas, "Blossoming chestnut branches" by Vincent van Gogh and "Boy in a red waistcoat" by Paul Cezanne. The paintings of Van Gogh and Monet were quickly discovered by the police and returned to the museum, the rest disappeared without a trace.

Robbery of the Stedelek Museum in Amsterdam

On May 21, 1988, thieves smashed the first floor window of the Stedelek Museum in Amsterdam, Holland and stole 3 paintings worth $52 million, according to the Associated Press. Today, the cost of these paintings is $ 100 million, adjusted for inflation.

This robbery was the largest in Dutch history, but fortunately, the paintings were discovered after 2 weeks, when the criminals made an attempt to sell the booty.

One of Van Gogh's most famous and recognizable paintings from the Sunflowers series ( second version 1889) was one of the stolen works.

Museum robbery in Rio de Janeiro

The Luxembourg Garden by Henri Matisse was one of the paintings stolen from the Museum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On February 24, 2006, when the whole city was resting during the annual Carnival, four armed men robbed the museum and fled with the works of such famous artists like Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.

The paintings have yet to be found, and their value has never been determined, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Abduction of the Spindle Madonna by Leonardo da Vinci

"Mona Lisa" is not the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci that robbers once laid eyes on. In August 2003, criminals disguised as ordinary tourists visited Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland and took the painting "Madonna with a Spindle" with them, hiding in a Volkswagen Golf car. The castle museum contains famous paintings such artists as da Vinci, Rembrandt and Hans Holbein, with a total cost of about 650 million dollars.

'Madonna of the Spindle' estimated at $65 million

The canvas of Leonardo, written by the famous artist 500 years ago, is estimated at 65 million dollars. Fortunately, it was discovered 4 years later in Glasgow. 4 people were arrested and convicted for involvement in the crime.

Robbery National Museum in Stockholm

On December 22, 2000, the paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir "Young Parisian Woman" and "Conversation with a Gardener", as well as Rembrandt's self-portrait, disappeared from the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Three men, one of whom threatened the guard with a machine gun, managed to escape from famous canvases in just a few minutes.

According to BBC News reports, police suspect that the robbers were assisted in the crime. At a time when a crime was being committed in the museum, the police were distracted by a call about a car on fire, and just at the moment when the alarm went off in the museum.

"A Conversation with a Gardener" was unexpectedly discovered during a roundup of drug dealers, and two other paintings were found in 2005. According to the FBI, the total cost of these three paintings is $30 million.

Robbery of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

The robbery of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Holland, in April 1991, which resulted in the theft of 20 paintings, can be called the fastest painting theft in history. All works were discovered 35 minutes later in the car of the kidnappers, according to the New York Times.

In April 1991, approximately $500 million worth of paintings were stolen in Amsterdam.

The robbers committed the crime after they hid in the museum after it closed. At around 3:00 a.m., they emerged from their hiding place wearing stocking masks with cutouts for the eyes to hide their identities.

Among the stolen paintings was Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters" from his early creativity. The total value of all stolen paintings is about $500 million. Unfortunately, almost all the paintings were damaged.

It happens that the love of money makes people commit crimes, and theft in this case is the simplest and most effective method do it. In our review, the 10 most sensational and most expensive thefts. Some of the stolen artifacts were subsequently found, while others disappeared without a trace, but the hope remains that they will be found.

1. Faberge eggs

Series jewelry firm of Carl Faberge, known as Faberge eggs, was created in 1885 - 1917. In total, 71 Easter surprises were created, of which 52 eggs were made by jewelers by order of the emperor. Only 62 eggs have survived to this day, of which 54 are imperial. The rest are considered lost and disappeared without a trace. It remains to add that in 1917 the cost of each Fab egg

2 Tyrannosaurus Rex Bones

Tyrannosaurus Rex is a bipedal predator with a massive skull balanced by a heavy and long tail. Its front paws, in comparison with the hind legs, were very small, but at the same time unusually powerful. This pangolin is considered the largest species in its family and the largest land predator in the history of our planet.

In 1945, the remains of this dinosaur were discovered in Mongolia, and then its entire skeleton. In 2012, a certain Eric Prokopi stole some bones and decided to sell them for $1.1 million. The unfortunate seller ended up in prison, and the bones were returned to the museum.

3. Painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch

The Scream is a series of paintings by the expressionist artist Edvard Munch, created in 1893-1910. Four versions of the painting were created, each featuring a human figure screaming in despair against a generalized landscape background and a blood-red sky.

In 1994, the painting was stolen from the National Gallery, but a few months later it was returned to its place. In 2004, The Scream and several other works were stolen from the Munch Museum. They were returned to their place only in 2006, however, with damage. In May 2008, after restoration, the paintings were returned to the exhibition.

4. Ruby slippers

In 1939, the film The Wizard of Oz was released in Hollywood, becoming one of the most successful in the history of cinema. The film used 4 pairs of shoes, which practically did not differ from each other. In these so-called "ruby shoes" in the film, she walked main character Dorothy, played by Judy Garland.

One pair of ruby ​​slippers was in the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota. But in 2005 they disappeared from the museum, and the whereabouts of this legendary pair of shoes is still unknown. The shoes are valued at $203 million.

5. Stradivarius violin

Antonio Stradivari is a craftsman known for making very high quality and most expensive string instruments. Musical instruments that were made between 1689 and 1725 were widely known.

The famous violinist Erika Morini (1904 - 1995) played a Stradivarius violin made in 1727. One day, someone broke into her apartment and stole that legendary violin. Morini died and the violin was never found. The cost of this unique tool is today estimated at 3.5 million dollars.

6. Van Gogh paintings

Vincent van Gogh - Dutch post-impressionist painter - in 10 seconds small years created more than 2,100 canvases, including about 860 oil paintings. But he really became famous only after his death. Even his small canvases began to cost fabulous money.

From the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, 2 paintings were stolen - "Sea View at Scheveningen" and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" - the total value of which is estimated at 30 million dollars. The thieves were caught and imprisoned, but the paintings never returned to the museum.

7. Cellini salt shaker

"Saliera" is a gold table figurine, which was made in 1543 by the jeweler master Benvenuto Cellini for the French king Francis I. This artifact is considered the pinnacle of arts and crafts of the Mannerist era. In addition, this is the only work of this great master of attribution, which is not in doubt.

It is known that in 1570 King Charles IX presented the Salier to Ferdinand of Tyrol, who was present at his engagement to Elizabeth. Until the 29th century, Saliera remained the pearl of the Innsbruck Ambrass castle, and then it was transported to the capital of Austria to the Museum of Art History.

On May 11, 2003, Saliera was stolen from the museum, which was under renovation at the time. Despite the fact that the cost of the figurine is estimated at more than 50 million euros, the Austrian authorities offered only 70 thousand euros for the return of this unique salt shaker, explaining that it is simply impossible to sell a work of art of this level. On January 21, 2006, the police found Saliera buried in a lead box in a forest near the town of Zvetl.

8 Empire State Building

A 102-story skyscraper in Manhattan, New York, was also once stolen. True, the theft was not real, but only a provocation. In 90 minutes, two Daily News journalists managed to forge documents for the ownership of this building. They showed the officials documents signed by a non-notary public in the legendary bank robber Willy Saton. But no one noticed the trick. All day long, journalists owned one of the most famous skyscrapers, and then admitted that the documents were fake, and they went to this to demonstrate that even the Empire State Building can be stolen in the reigning confusion.

9. Jewelry

In 1994, the largest jewelery theft took place in France. Three armed men robbed jewelry shop at the Carlton Hotel. They stole £30 million worth of jewelry rumored to have belonged to one of the most famous French jewelers, Alexandre Reza. Later it turned out that the machine guns were loaded with blank bullets.

10. "Mona Lisa"

But one of the most daring thefts in history was the abduction from the Louvre of the world-famous Mona Lisa by the great master Leonardo da Vinci.

In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia worked as a glazier at the Louvre. Once he noticed that no one was guarding the picture, and could not resist the temptation to steal it. He simply removed the picture from the wall, took it out of the frame, hid the Gioconda under his coat and went home.

For two years the painting was kept in his apartment in a suitcase with a double bottom. The thief was detained when he tried to sell the painting in Italy.

The cultural heritage of humanity is greatest works that have been worked on the best masters. Someone put their soul into paintings, and someone created ideal curves in the form of sculptures. Today, the best works of art are kept under protection in museums, and their value at auctions reaches tens of millions of dollars.

But sometimes there is a temptation to steal a masterpiece. Attackers do not always demand a ransom for it or sell it to private collectors. It happens that the creations of geniuses simply disappear. They are hunted by the police, collectors, bounty hunters, but they cannot be found. Here is a list of the most famous stolen works of art that remain lost.

Stradivarius violin by Davidoff-Morini. Possession of a Stradivarius violin for a musician is like possession of the Holy Grail. It is believed that this instrument has a high-quality and rich sound. Stradivari created an instrument that, even after centuries of use, has not lost its unique qualities. You just need to take care of these unique violins. It is believed that up to today only about 650 original musical instruments from a medieval master. By the way, these are not only violins, but also violas, cellos, harps, guitars and mandolins. All museums consider it an honor to have at their disposal the creation of Stradivarius. There are his works not only in private collections, but in the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Stradivarius Museum in Cremona, Italy. And in October 1995, a unique creation of the master, dated 1727, was stolen from the apartment of the violinist Erica Morini in New York. The approximate cost of the rarity was three million dollars. The mistress herself died shortly after the robbery, unable to bear the bitterness of loss. However, at that time she was already 91 years old. And that theft is still on the FBI's list of the top 10 art crimes. Unique violin so it is listed as lost and no one knows where she is now.

Painting by Won Gogh "View of the sea at Scheveningen". On December 7 at about 8 am, a pair of unknown robbers climbed onto the roof of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. From there, the thieves were able to get inside the premises. Out of all the variety of paintings, the attackers took only two: “View of the sea at Scheveningen” and “The flock leaving the reformist church in Neunen.” Van Gogh painted both works between 1882 and 1884. It is believed that at this time the artist created his best masterpieces. And the total cost of the paintings is about 30 million dollars. The museum's official website states that Van Gogh painted this picture while on beach resort Scheveningen near The Hague. The poor artist had to literally fight the weather - there was a strong gusty wind that lifted grains of sand into the air and made them stick to the paint. And although Van Gogh cleaned the sand from the paint, its remains can be found in some layers on the canvas. In 2004, two people were arrested on charges of theft. They were sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, but the paintings were never found. The museum announced a reward of 100,000 euros to those who give some information about the whereabouts of art objects.

Painting by Pablo Picasso "Dove with green peas". This theft turned out to be rather strange. The incident took place on May 20, 2010 in Paris, at about 7 am. From the local museum contemporary art five paintings were stolen with a total value of 100 million euros. One of them was Picasso's masterpiece "Dove with green peas", created in 1911. To get into the museum, the thief simply broke the window and broke the lock. The criminal turned out to be so dexterous that he managed not to cut out the paintings with a knife, but quickly and carefully pull them out of the frames. The surveillance camera showed that one single thief was operating, and not a whole gang. The police found someone who could be him. The thief was convicted in 2011. But he said that after the theft, he panicked and simply threw the paintings into the trash. The history is in doubt, and the paintings are still considered missing.

Painting by Paul Gauguin "Girl at the open window". This Gauguin masterpiece was created by him in 1888, and it was stolen relatively recently - in October 2012. The crime was committed at the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, Holland. Together with the painting by Gauguin, six more canvases of such famous artists like Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Lucian Freud. The thieves entered the museum at about 3 am. In just three minutes, they rushed through the museum, took seven paintings and left. The police who arrived at the scene just shrugged. The approximate value of the stolen masterpieces is 18 million euros. But already in November, the first suspect, Radu Dogaru, was arrested. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. On December 6, a second intruder, Adrian Prokop, was also arrested in Berlin. But the paintings were never found.

Painting by Jan Vermeer "Concert". One of the most famous masters XVII century is the Dutchman Jan Vermeer. Today, almost all of his paintings are in museums or the Royal Collection in London. One of the most famous paintings Vermeer was the "Concert", created by him in 1664. The canvas depicts a couple of women and a man playing music in a dimly lit living room. As early as 1892, the Parisian art historian Theophile Thor sold the painting at auction on his estate to the famous philanthropist Isabella Gardner. So the "Concert" ended up in her personal museum, where it has been exhibited since 1903. And on March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves dressed as Boston police officers showed up at the museum, ostensibly on a call. Inside the museum, robbers stole 13 paintings, including a masterpiece by Vermeer, as well as paintings by Flinck, Degas and Rembrandt. These creations were never found, and the Concerto is generally considered the most expensive lost painting in the world - its price is about $ 200 million.

Painting by Jan van Eyck "Fair Judges". This crime is dated April 10, 1934. Then at the exhibition, held in the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Belgian Ghent, Jan van Eyck's painting "Fair Judges" was stolen. This canvas itself was only a part of the altar painting "The Adoration of the Lamb", created back in 1426-1432. They stole only one part of 12 panels, while the robbers left a note. On the French it was written that the painting was taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. And then an interesting correspondence began. For seven whole months, the Belgian government communicated through letters with a certain person who claimed that he had the painting and demanded a ransom. The thief was identified on November 25, it turned out to be the local eccentric politician Arsene Godertier. Already dying, he declared that only he knew where the picture was, but he would take this secret with him to the grave. Since then, there have been many versions about the whereabouts of the painting. And although many are inclined to believe that it was destroyed, it is still officially on the list of missing works of art.

Rembrandt's painting Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee. Together with the “Concert” by Jan Vermeer, this canvas also disappeared from the Boston Museum of Isabella Gardner. The painting is remarkable in that it was the only seascape drawn by Rembrandt. "Storm" depicted the miracle of Christ when he calmed the Sea of ​​Galilee. These events were described in the Gospel of Mark. The robbery itself was the largest in the art world, committed in America. In March 2013, the FBI called a special press conference where it was announced that the names of the perpetrators would be revealed. Criminal analysis showed that the paintings were stolen by a whole organized organization, and not local loners, as previously thought. True, the authorities said that the investigation of the case is still ongoing, so it is too early to name names. Since then, no new data on the fate of the paintings have been received. And although more than 23 years have passed since the crime, the investigation is still ongoing. Authorities are offering a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of the paintings.

Painting by Claude Monet "Charing Cross Bridge, London". Between 1899 and 1904 famous impressionist Claude Monet painted a whole series of paintings dedicated to London's Charing Cross Bridge. They show the object in different time days, for which the artist used a wide color palette. The painting, created in 1901, was in Rotterdam and was stolen from the Kunsthal Museum in October 2012. One of the captured intruders claimed that he burned the Monet painting, like other stolen paintings, in his mother's oven. So the thief tried to hide the evidence. And although some pigments were indeed found in the furnace, there is no strong evidence of the words of the criminal and the destruction of the painting. Therefore, art historians are still hoping to find and return Monet's masterpiece.

Eight Imperial Faberge Eggs. Today, the Russian tsars are more often remembered in connection with the art objects that belonged to them. In particular, the collections of Imperial Faberge Eggs, created by him for Alexander III and Nicholas II, are highly valued. The representative of the House, Peter Carl Gustavovich Faberge, made the eggs real masterpieces of art by decorating them precious stones. This work was carried out by the jeweler between 1885 and 1917. In total, the collection turned out to be 52 known to experts imperial eggs, with which there were exquisite jewelry, exquisite metal parts and complex gears, and cogs for winding mechanisms. And in 1918, the new Bolshevik government allowed the looting of the House of Faberge and the royal palace in St. Petersburg. The eggs were confiscated and sent to the Kremlin. Over time, some of them ended up in the hands of private collectors, others fell into different museums around the world. The fate of eight such products has remained unknown since 1918, they were simply stolen. Today, each Faberge egg is valued at about a million dollars. Rumors connected the lost rarities either with Europe, or with the States, or even with South America.

Painting by Vincent van Gogh "The Lovers: The Poet's Garden IV". On October 21, 1888, the artist wrote a letter to his brother Theo about his latest work. In a vague sketch, the artist depicted a row of green cypresses against a pinking sky, while the moon was drawn in the form of a pale lemon crescent. In the foreground of the canvas are vague soil, sand and several thistles. The picture also depicts a couple of lovers - a pale blue man in a yellow hat and a woman in a black skirt and pink corsage. In the same 1888, the picture was completed. But in the late 1930s, on the orders of Hitler, many "corrupted" works of art were seized from many private collections and museums. Among them was Van Gogh's painting "The Lovers: The Poet's Garden IV". In fact, Hitler wanted to create his own art collection, the largest in the world. For her, those very “perverted” works were intended. The Americans created a special military group, "Monuments Men", which was designed to find in war-torn Europe and save cultural values. However, after the end of World War II, Van Gogh's masterpiece was never found.