Thirteen works were stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on 18 March 1990, including paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer. As checked on 8 October 2026, the museum describes an unsolved theft and an active effort to recover the missing art.
Gardner wins for combining major works, a fractured collection and decades of absence. The Mona Lisa has a stronger claim on fame, but recovery changes our comparison. The Concert pictured here is a reproduction of a stolen original. Which should decide #1: cultural loss, years missing or public impact?
Source: Gardner Museum.
Image: Johannes Vermeer · Public domain. Resized and recompressed; original rights retained.
