Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Homestalgia Archive

Community memory · 1903–today · Aug 7, 2026

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Isabella Stewart Gardner built a Venetian palace in the Fenway and installed her collection herself, room by room, leaving instructions in her will that nothing ever be rearranged. On March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers talked their way in and left with thirteen works, including Vermeer's The Concert and three Rembrandts — the largest art theft in history. The empty frames still hang, which turns the crime into part of the visit.

Source: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, institutional histories of the building, collection installation, and Gardner's will; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, theft history and stolen-artwork inventory; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft case history (1990)