Stolen masterpieces: Famous paintings, the whereabouts of which are still unknown

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The paintings of the great masters are distinguished not only by their artistic value, but also by a value that is quite measurable in monetary terms, and therefore are always in the focus of robbers. Some of the masterpieces that once disappeared from museums, churches and cathedrals continue to exist now only in reproductions and copies - while the fate of the originals remains unknown.

Abductions of the 20th century

The work, created by the Dutch artist Jan van Eyck or his brother Hubert, was stolen from the Cathedral of Saint Bavo in Ghent on April 10, 1934. A resident of Ghent suspected of this crime, already on his deathbed, pleaded guilty, at the same time saying that he would take the secret of the location of the masterpiece with him to the grave. At present, the altar in Ghent has been supplemented with a copy made from surviving photographs of the lost fragment.

This painting was perhaps the only self-portrait painted by Raphael. In 1798, the canvas was transported from Italy to Poland, to the collection of the Czartoryski princes. With the outbreak of World War II, despite all attempts to hide the masterpiece from the Nazis, the "Portrait of a Young Man" was discovered by the Gestapo and taken to the Hitler Museum in the Austrian city of Linz. After the end of the war, the painting could not be found. However, according to the Polish authorities, this work of Raphael has not been destroyed and is safe, its whereabouts are unknown.

Tradition says that the icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke. It was first mentioned in 1347, when the Byzantine emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus donated the image to the monastery of the city of Monemvasia in modern Greece. During the struggle of the Greeks for independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821-1832, the icon was taken to St. Petersburg, where it took its place in the Winter Palace. Having changed its location several times, the Andronikovskaya icon ended up in the Epiphany Cathedral of Vyshny Volochok, from where it was stolen in 1984.

The image is revered by believers as miraculous. It is believed that after the iconoclast struck with a knife on the icon on the neck of the Mother of God, a bleeding wound appeared. A lithographic copy of the icon is kept in the church of the Feodorovsky Convent of Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990

On the night of March 18, 1990, a kind of record was set for the cost of painting masterpieces stolen in one day - the damage from the crime was estimated at half a billion dollars. The robbers, dressed in police uniforms, entered the museum and, having neutralized the guards, took out thirteen exhibits. Among the stolen paintings were three works by Rembrandt and one - by his student Howard Flink, five paintings by Edgar Degas, works by Vermeer and Monet. Before leaving the museum, the criminals destroyed the video recordings. Currently, the search for the stolen masterpieces continues, and a reward of several million dollars has been announced for information about their whereabouts.

Isabella Gardner is one of the most famous female collectors, who has collected about 2,500 pieces of European art in her life.

This painting is considered the most expensive ever stolen. It was created by Vermeer between 1663 and 1666. The canvas depicts three musicians: a girl playing the harpsichord, a man with a lute and a singer. On the floor lies a musical instrument popular in the 17th century, a relative of the cello - the viola da gamba. Behind the singing girl, Vermeer painted a picture of another great Dutch artist - Dirk van Baburen. This work, titled "The Srednya", was placed next to the "Concert" and was not damaged during the theft.

Painted in 1633, this painting became the only seascape by the great Rembrandt. The composition on canvas reflects the legend about one of the miracles of Jesus Christ - when, while crossing the Sea of Galilee with his disciples, he tamed a storm that was unleashing.

This work is one of the samples of the early work of Rembrandt, who already then demonstrated the ingenious transmission of action and emotions using the techniques of chiaroscuro.

The canvas depicts a man sitting with a notebook at a table at the U Tortoni cafe in Paris, where Manet had breakfast almost every day. The work was created by the artist in the years 1878-1880, during the heyday of his creative powers. "At Tortoni" is not just a vivid example of French impressionism, it is also a "portrait of the era", a reflection of one of the facets of the social and cultural life of Paris at the end of the century before last.

Robbery of the Künsthal Museum in Rotterdam on October 16, 2012

On this day, the works of Matisse, Picasso, Monet and Gauguin were taken out of the museum, the approximate cost of the stolen works was one hundred million dollars. All the missing paintings were immediately entered into the database of stolen works of art, which should have made it difficult for criminals to sell them. The suspects in the abduction were quickly tracked down - already in January 2013, six likely kidnappers were arrested and interrogated and searched. According to the mother of one of the possible criminals, Olga Dogaru, she discovered and burned the paintings for fear of exposing her son. Law enforcement agencies question this statement, and Dogaru herself later retracted her words - and therefore, perhaps, the masterpieces have not yet been destroyed.

The painting was created in 1919 - during this period Matisse painted in muted colors, preferring gray and black shades on his canvases. The painting appeared already in the mature period of Matisse's work, when behind the artist was the experience of creativity in the style of impressionism, fauvism, as well as a journey to the East and comprehension of what he saw on canvases. The special value of "The Reading Girl" is that it represents an important stage in the perception of the artist's rich creative experience.

Both paintings were painted by an impressionist painter in 1901. Executed in a similar manner, they are part of a series of "London Mists" created by Monet between 1900 and 1904.

As you peer into the image on the canvas, the outlines of the bridge seem to emerge from the fog, become clearer, stand out from the dense and viscous, almost tangible background. Monet painted London bridges in different lighting and in different weather, about thirty-seven works are devoted to the Charing Cross bridge.

The painting was painted in 1971, when Picasso was already ninety. After Olga Dogaru retracted her testimony about the destruction of the paintings, information appeared that the “Harlequin's Head” was found in one of the Romanian counties. Unfortunately, the painting brought from there turned out to be a fake.

Perhaps one day these and other stolen masterpieces will return to their places and again become the property of all connoisseurs of art. In the meantime, empty frames, which not so long ago decorated great masterpieces, look more eloquent than any words.

But the story of the incredible popularity of Da Vinci's La Gioconda began precisely with her abduction in 1911 from the Louvre collection.