The Empty Frames episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 14, 2026 · 7 MIN

The Empty Frames

from The Vault · host The Vault by Crimes from Europe

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men posing as Boston police officers talked their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Over the next 81 minutes, they stole 13 works of art including a Vermeer and Rembrandts only seascape. Total value: over half a billion dollars. Thirty-six years later, not a single work has been recovered. The empty frames still hang on the walls.

In 1990, two men stole 13 works of art worth half a billion dollars from the Gardner Museum. The empty frames still hang on the walls.

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The Empty Frames

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This episode is 7 minutes long.

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This episode was published on April 14, 2026.

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In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men posing as Boston police officers talked their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Over the next 81 minutes, they stole 13 works of art including a Vermeer and Rembrandts only seascape. Total...

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