Page 68 - All About History - Issue 16-14

10 Daring Heists

stepping closer. Startled, Abath steps out from
behind the desk, away from the panic alarm by his ANATOMY OF A HEIST
chair. Like a flash the officer spins him around and
pins him against a wall. “Why are you arresting
me?” he whimpers. “You’re not being arrested”, Step-by-step play of history’s largest unsolved art robbery
replies one of the men. “This is a robbery. Don’t give
us any problems and you won’t get hurt.” The poor
watchman catches a glimpse of his colleague finally
returning, only to see him manhandled by the
other ‘policeman.’ The two watchmen are marched
down to the basement and are handcuffed to some
piping, their hands, feet and mouths bound with
tape. In mere minutes, the guards are down and
the museum’s art is ready for the taking.
With that the robbers ascend one floor into the
main exhibits of the museum. The two-man team
begins in the Dutch Room on the east side of the
building. The Dutch Room is one of the largest
chambers in the museum, holding some of the
institution’s most exotic and diverse pieces.
Hands gloved to avoid leaving fingerprints, the
robbers don’t go after every item in the room, or The Blue Room
aim for the most expensive or impressive – in fact, (First floor, west wing)
the authorities later remark the robbers seemed to
know exactly which items they were after, driven — Chez Tortoni
(Manet – oil on canvas)
by a specific list of items. The motion detectors
Estimated value: $85,000,000
within the room track them moving back and
forth between exhibits, removing paintings from
the walls and cutting the canvasses free of their
frames. Many of these paintings have proximity
alarms, setting off a shrieking siren throughout the
museum. Backtracking to the security office, the
robbers locate its source and smash it to bits before
returning to their work.
At this point, the motion detectors track one of
the robbers breaking off from his partner, moving
across the floor to another room, the Short Gallery
to pick out more items. Interestingly, the motion
detectors in the Blue Room – a small chamber
containing only one of the 13 paintings stolen
by the robbers – show no record of any activity
during the 81 minutes the robbers operate within The Short Gallery (Second floor, north wing)
the museum. While making his way to the Short — La Sortie De Pesage — G[eXX @bhagXW =bV^Xlf — Program For An Artistic Soiree –
Gallery, the robber passes priceless works by (Degas – pencil and water colour (Degas – black ink, washes and Study Two
Raphael and Botticelli. Again, these works of art on paper) oil on paper) (Degas – charcoal on paper)
Estimated value: $25,000,000 Estimated value: $25,000,000 Estimated value: $15,000,000
with significantly higher price tags are ignored.
The robbers briefly unite in the Dutch Room again, — Cortege Aux Environs De Florence — Program For An Artistic Soiree – — :\_WXW XTZ_X f[TcXW Y\a\T_ Tgbc T
(Degas – pencil, wash on paper) Study One ATcb_Xba\V Y_TZ
possibly to gather their collective haul and continue
Estimated value: $21,000,000 (Degas – charcoal on paper) (Sculptor unknown)
removing items from the their chosen rooms. Estimated value: $22,000,000 Estimated value: $300,000
After one last pass to the Short Gallery to collect
the remaining removed items and to pick up the
in and out in 81 minutes

i:24am i:48am i:5iam i:54am 2:08am
Police calling Robbers enter the Dutch Room Entering the galleries Alarms are tripped Returning to the Short Gallery
Two men dressed as police officers The security guard is drawn out from While one robber stays in the Dutch Motion sensors tripped in the Dutch One of the assailants makes a final
ring the bell at the museum’s security his post by claims he fits a description Room (containing six of the 13 stolen Room suggest both robbers are now return to the Short Gallery and, most
door. Only one of the guards is of a suspect. The second guard portraits), the other moves through back in the room. Six paintings, as likely, continues to remove paintings
present during this initial contact. appears and the robbers restrain both into the western wing, through the well as a small Chinese bronze beaker, (either entirely or by cutting the work
The ‘officers’ tell him that they’re men, duct-taping their mouths and Early Italian and Raphael Rooms and are lifted from this room, so it appears of art from its canvas), eventually
investigating reports of an incident placing them in the basement. The into the Short Gallery (which also the two assailants feel this room moving these items back toward the
and need to enter the museum. men enter the Dutch Room. contains six of the stolen paintings). deserves more of their time. security room.

68