CCTV released 25 years on after $500m art heist

Footage has been released showing an unidentified man at a Boston museum shortly before $500 million dollars worth of art was stolen - 25 years ago.

Among the 13 pieces of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum were works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas and Manet.

Boston police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a man seen at the museum ton security cameras the night before the theft,

Vermeer's Credit: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The burglary took place on 18 March 1990, and the footage released today shows a car pulling up at the museum entrance the day before. The car matches the description of a vehicle reported to be parked outside just before the theft.

It also shows an unidentified man getting out of the car and being allowed to enter the Museum by a security guard - almost exactly 24 hours before the thieves entered the museum through the same door.

Rembrandt's self portrait was taken during the burglary in 1990. Credit: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The museum is offering a $5 million reward for information that leads directly to the recovery of all of the stolen items in good condition. Anyone with information is being urged to call the Isabella Gardner Museum or the FBI.

The missing artwork includes:

  • Vermeer's "The Concert"

  • Rembrandt's "A Lady and Gentleman in Black

  • Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee"

  • Rembrandt's "Self Portrait"

  • Govaert Flinck's "Landscape with an Obelisk"

  • A Shang Dynasty Chinese Bronze Beaker from 1200-1100 BC

  • Degas's "La Sortie du Pelage"

  • Degas's "Cortege Aux Environs de Florence"

  • Degas's "Three Mounted Jockeys"

  • Degas's "Program for an Artistic Soiree" charcoal on white paper

  • Degas's "Program for an Artistic Soiree" less finished charcoal on buff paper

  • Manet's "Chez Tortoni"

  • Napoleonic Eagle Finial