Louvre Museum, Paris, 1911, recovered – In one of the most audacious of crimes, not just art thefts, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was swiped from the gallery, shocking the French nation. Italian officials arrested a Vincenzo Perugia, who was intending to sell it and return it to Italy. He was released after just a few months and viewed as a hero in his home country. The painting returned to the Louvre in 1914. Newscom
National Gallery, London, 1961, recovered – Francisco Goya's painting of The Duke of Wellington was swiped three weeks after the British government purchased the work to prevent its sale to a US businessman in response to national outrage. After leaving ransom notes, an unemployed bus driver, Kempton Bunton, gave himself up to authorities. Newscom
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 1990, unsolved – Thieves made off with 13 paintings, including works by Degas, Manet, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, valued at $500 million. The courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is seen here in November 2004. Chitose Suzuki/AP/File
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 1991, recovered – In what was billed as the world's biggest art robbery, 20 paintings, estimated to be worth $500 million, were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The carefully selected late works were found shortly afterward in the getaway car not far away. Seen here is a painting by Van Gogh, entitled 'Self-portrait with Felt Hat.' Newscom
Modern Museum, Stockholm, 1993, some recovered – Eight works by Picasso and French cubist Georges Braque valued at some $60 million were stolen by thieves, who lowered themselves into the galleries in the middle of the night. Some were recovered in the following months. Georges Braque is here seen in France in this undated photo. Sipa Photos/Newscom
National Museum, Oslo, 1994, recovered – Edvard Munch’s iconic 1893 work 'The Scream,' one of the most recognizable works of art in the world, was swiped in less than one minute. It was recovered undamaged at a hotel several months later. Four men were convicted of the theft in 1996. Reuters/File
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2002, unrecovered – Two Vincent Van Gogh oil paintings worth $30 million were taken by thieves who broke into the roof and snatched them within two minutes. Two convictions were obtained in 2003, but the paintings were not. Here is Vincent Van Gogh's 'View of the Sea at Scheveningen,' one of the two paintings stolen from the museum. AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/FILE
Sao Paolo Museum of Art, Brazil, 2007, recovered – Burglars stole Picasso's 1904 work 'Portrait of Suzanne Bloch', worth up to $50 million, and local painter Candido Portinari's 1939 'The Coffee Worker,' valued at about $5.5 million. The theft resulted in closure of the museum until they were recovered the following month. Here, two policemen guard the recovered works in January 2008 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Paulo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom/File
Buehrle Collection, Zurich, 2008, recovered – Four oil paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, and Monet were stolen. Two of the paintings, 'Poppies Near Vetheuil' by Claude Monet and 'Blossoming Chestnut Branches' by Van Gogh, were found in good condition on Feb. 18 in a car in Zurich. They are worth an estimated $63.98 million. 'Poppies Near Vetheuil' by Monet is seen here. Sipa Photos/Newscom
Buehrle Collection, Zurich, 2008, unrecovered – Cezanne's 'The Boy in the Red Vest' and Degas' 'Viscount Lepic and His Daughters', worth a total of $164 million, are still missing. 'The Boy in the Red Vest' by Paul Cezanne is seen here. Sipa Photos/Newscom
Museum of Modern Art, Paris , 2010, unrecovered – Thieves heisted works by Braque, Leger, Manet, Matisse, Modigliani, and Picasso, despite sophisticated alarm and detection systems. The total value of the paintings stolen from the Paris museum is estimated at $124 million, according to museum officials, lower than the $500 million valuation released earlier by government officials. On May 20, police officers stand at the entrance of the Paris Museum of Modern Art following the report that paintings had been stolen. Jacques Brinon/AP
The art world fears that the mother of a man suspected in the theft of seven masterpieces from a Dutch art museum burned the priceless evidence.
Did a cache of priceless stolen art go up in smoke in a Romanian village?
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