Chez Tortoni and the works stolen from the Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Offer advertised by an official source
Up to $10 million for information leading to the safe return of the stolen works in good condition. A share may be paid for an individual work or group; $10 million is not offered per artwork. The museum administers the reward and its conditions.
A separate additional $100,000 is offered for information leading to the return of the Napoleonic eagle finial, also stolen in 1990. Both offers belong to this one theft case.
Thirteen objects, including Édouard Manet’s Chez Tortoni and works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on 18 March 1990. The museum’s official theft page confirms the investigation remains active and the objects missing. Individuals’ suspected connections to the theft are not treated here as established facts.
More images from this report
Artwork Details & DocumentationIdentification, ownership history and supporting records
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee
- Artwork title
- Christ in the Storm on the Sea of GalileeIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Maker / attribution
- Rembrandt van RijnIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Object type
- PaintingIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Creation date / period
- 1633Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Materials & technique
- Oil on canvasIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Measurements
- 160 × 128 cm (height × width)Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Accession / inventory number
- P21s24Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Inscriptions & markings
- Rudder: signed and dated Rembrant. f/1633.Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
- Subject
- Christ and his disciples in a storm-tossed boat.Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
Not documented in this record: distinguishing features.
Documented ownership history
- 1898
Wertheimer and Colnaghi bought it from Henry Francis Pelham-Clinton-Hope.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked - 1898-09
Isabella Stewart Gardner bought it from Colnaghi, through Bernard Berenson.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21s24 ↗ · checked
Only stages supported by the cited sources are shown. This list is not a complete chain of ownership.
The Concert
- Artwork title
- The ConcertIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Maker / attribution
- Johannes VermeerIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Object type
- PaintingIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Creation date / period
- 1663–1666 (museum dating)Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Materials & technique
- Oil on canvasIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Measurements
- 72.5 × 64.7 cm (height × width)Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Accession / inventory number
- P21w27Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
- Subject
- Two women and a man making music indoors.Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
Not documented in this record: inscriptions & markings · distinguishing features.
Documented ownership history
- 1804-09-10
Dealer A. Paillet bought it at the Van Leyden sale in Paris.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked - 1892-12-05
Gardner bought it at the Thoré-Bürger estate sale, through Fernand Robert.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — P21w27 ↗ · checked
Only stages supported by the cited sources are shown. This list is not a complete chain of ownership.
Record sources
Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.
