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pazzesco · 8 months

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Photo by Albert Harlingue/Roger-Viollet/Getty Images

The theft was dubbed “the most colossal crime of modern times” and reported by every single big newspaper of the time.

The Heist of the Mona Lisa

The mysterious heist led to a high-profile police investigation and extensive coverage in newspapers around the world, quickly elevating the Mona Lisa or La Gioconda, into the public consciousness. Museum visitors crowded around the empty space on the gallery wall, which was referred to as Paris’s “mark of shame.” Renowned cubist Pablo Picasso and Wall Street tycoon J.P. Morgan were both investigated as suspects—but the real culprit turned out to be someone named Vincenzo Peruggia.

From left to right

Vincenzo Peruggia, the mastermind behind the Heist.

"Theft of Mona Lisa" (magazine cover) illustrated by Achille Beltrame, 1911.

Paris’s “mark of shame,” the empty space on the gallery wall where Mona had been displayed.

How he did it

Vincenzo Peruggia worked at the Louvre— he was a handyman and former Louvre employee familiar with the lay out, how the painting had been installed and museum procedures.

Security at the Louvre was low—unlike today’s high-tech security systems and CCTV, there was little in place during the early 20th century to stop criminals.

He had the help of 2 henchmen—brothers, Vincenzo and Michele Lancelotti assisted him with the theft.

It took over 2 years to catch him—He hid the painting in a false-bottom trunk in his apartment for 2 years while trying to find a buyer.

Details

Peruggia hid in a closet and waited for the gallery to close. with the help of his 2 accomplices, they lifted the artwork off the wall, removed its glass case and frame, and wrapped it up in a drop cloth. They smuggled the painting out of the museum, and nobody noticed it was missing for over twenty-four hours.

Because the Mona Lisa’s popularity exploded in the wake of the heist, Peruggia could not simply sell it as planned. After hiding the painting in his Paris apartment for 2 years, he finally attempted to sell it to an art dealer in Florence. Peruggia was arrested on the spot and the masterpiece was triumphantly returned to the Louvre with newfound notoriety to its name.

So it was actually Peruggia’s shady criminal activities that helped make the Mona Lisa famous around the world.

#mona lisa #vincenzo peruggia #art #mona lisa stolen #louvre #shoplifting at the louvre #j.p. morgan #pablo picasso #art theft #art heist #leonardo #leonardo da vinci #cliff clavin

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carothehotmess · 2 years

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Fun fact about the Cobra Kai season 5 and the Rembrandt painting joke at the end:

Rembrandt famously only ever painted one seascape. It was called Storm on the Sea of Galilee and, until 1990, it hung on the wall of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

However, on March 18, 1990, two thieves broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 pieces of art. The paintings they stole included the above mentioned Rembrandt, a Vermeer (believed to be the most valuable unrecovered piece of art in the world), as well as some art by Degas and Manet, among others.

The thieves were never caught, and to this day, the art has never been found. There was strong belief that the heist was connected with one or another criminal organizations in the Boston area, but there has never been definitive evidence of the sort.

So how does this relate to Cobra Kai? Well at the end of the last episode of season 5, Mike Barnes opens the door to the limo to reveal a painting laying inside that he took from Silver’s house, and says that he thinks a Rembrandt might be worth as much as a furniture store.

The painting he stole from Terry Silver? It looks a lot like Storm on the Sea of Galilee.

So not only is Terry Silver a bad guy for training kids to be assholes and paying off referees to cheat at children’s sports competitions and just generally being a dick, but he is also at the very least involved in the purchase of stolen art, not to mention his potential involvement with Boston organized crime.

#cobra kai #ck spoilers #ck s5 #cobra kai spoilers #cobra kai season five #terry silver #rembrandt #isabella stewart gardner museum #art heist #netflix

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obsessivearthoe · 2 months

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I wasn't made for science and memorizing I was made for YEARNING and writing sad fanfiction and looking up cool paintings and watching art conservation videos and reading silly fanfiction and putting stuff up on my wall and having a collection of books I can't hope to read all in one life time and I above all I was made for DREAMING

#gays in stem? more like gays in suffering #art #lgbtq #art history #art heist #ahb #crimson rivers #yearning #sad gay #reading #literature #fanfiction

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theoutcastrogue · 10 months

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Is Stealing a Work of Art Ever Excusable? One Master Thief Claims Yes The world’s greatest living art thief is likely a 52-year-old Frenchman named Stéphane Breitwieser, who has stolen from some 200 museums, taking art worth an estimated total of $2 billion. While working on a book about him, I interviewed Breitwieser extensively, during which he discussed the details of dozens of his heists—and also expressed the brazen belief that his art crimes should be considered forgivable. But only his crimes. Breitwieser said that he didn’t even like being called an art thief, because all other art thieves seemed to be nothing more than art-hating thugs. This includes the most accomplished ones, like the two men who robbed Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on the night of St. Patrick’s Day, 1990. The Gardner thieves assaulted the pair of overnight guards, bound the guards’ eyes and mouths with duct tape, and handcuffed them to pipes in the basement. Then the Gardner robbers yanked down a magnificent Rembrandt seascape, and one of the men stuck a knife in it. Breitwieser can hardly bring himself to imagine it—the blade ripping along the edge of the work, paint flakes spraying, canvas threads ripping, until the masterpiece, released from its stretcher and frame, curled up as if in death throes. The thieves, whose $500 million crime remains unsolved, then moved on to another Rembrandt and did it again. “They’re barbarians,” said Breitwieser. Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus, who served as lookout on most of his thefts, never resorted to violence, or so much as the threat of violence. They stole from museums only during opening hours, using subtle diversionary tactics that permitted Breitwieser to make things disappear, magician-like, from walls or display cases, while carefully avoiding security cameras and alarm systems. The couple escaped by strolling out a museum’s front door, the artwork usually stashed beneath Breitwieser’s overcoat.

#art heist #exemplars #Stéphane Breitwieser #art #thief #practice

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justwannabearock · 2 years

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Art heist, Baby! @otrtbs

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rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world · 10 months

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I squealed with delight when I saw that Vermeer painting. This is a delightful Easter egg for a museum person like me.

This Vermeer, titled “The Concert,” really was stolen - but not from the Louvre. It was one of 13 works stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts in 1990 in one of the most famous art heists. It has never been found, nor has the crime ever been solved.

#Star trek snw #chief engineer pelia #pelia #carol kane #johannes vermeer #art heist #art history #Star Trek #star trek strange new worlds #strange new worlds

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6schoolsin6years · 3 months

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Some girls obsess over bands and silly little guys

I obsess over horrific 34 year old cold cases

#isabella stewart gardner museum #Isabella Stewart Gardner heist #Art heist #robbery

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devildomimagines · 1 year

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Levi’s Birthday Collab 2023

It was my honor to work with Kael for this collab event! Check out their Twitter page here and their Tumblr page here. If you love Levi, I promise you won’t be disappointed 🥰 They created a partnering piece of art for this fic!

I’m so excited to finally share this Spies AU Fic to honor the birthday boy Leviathan~

"Mammon, take the next left."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

"Jump over the infrared sensor in the next hallway."

The white-haired agent effortlessly lept over the invisible trip line, "I told ya, I know!"

"Watch out for the center display case."

Mammon swiveled around the case with ease. "Dammit Levi, I know! We went over the blueprint again and again, I know this place like the back of my hand. So quit it!"

"Is that so?" Levi spun in his computer chair, "Because last time you said that, Lucifer had to come bail you out."

"Tch, that rich guy had too many gadgets," Mammon lowered his voice and came to a pause at the intersection of halls. He peeked around the corner to watch the pair of guards turn down another corridor.

"And you've got a habit of getting distracted. Anyways, this museum is nothing to scoff at, it's got plenty of security. It's only been easy for you so far because you've got me, the genius hacker, working on it."

As Mammon ran ahead, he smiled. He would never admit it aloud but Levi was good. It's been a breeze so far, at this rate they'd grab the painting and be home before sun up.

The painting in question was done by the mysterious artist M.C. Everyone wanted to get their hands on this work in particular as it was described to depict the human condition. Investors would pay a pretty penny to be the owner and the money was already burning a hole in Mammon's pocket. If they were going to finish the job early anyway, Mammon wondered if he could make away with a second prize. There was another work close by their goal that had piqued his interest when reviewing the building plans. The painting was owned by the old King Solomon. People debate whether he was strictly the owner or if he was possibly the painter. The painting would pair well with the work by M.C. and could potentially score the syndicate a huge bonus. The commissions the two of them could earn was making Mammon drool. He turned right for the section that held Solomon's painting.

"Mammon, what are you doing?!" Levi shouted into their comm system.

"You'll thank me for this," Mammon smirked.

"No no no no, you idiot, don't!" Levi typed furiously to try to disable the security devices in front of Mammon as he ran. He was barely keeping up but so far he'd turned off the sensors, exchanged the camera feeds to run on a loop, and diverted guards' attention by signaling a trip of the alarms in a far part of the museum. That was as far as luck took them though.

When Mammon entered the room for the ancient mural, the roll-down security gate came crashing down. "Levi, what the hell's going on?" There was only static on the line in response.

Levi could hear Mammon through the camera feed in the room but the room seemed to be a dead spot for their comms. "That moron," Levi growled his frustration as he scanned the cameras throughout the facility. Someone must have brought those gates down. Then he saw him, it was tough to miss the bulky mass running through the halls, "Diavolo... which means," his thought was cut off.

"That's right, Leviathan," a new voice entered his ear.

"Barbatos..." Levi sighed. Another genius hacker enters the chat, Levi thought as he tried to free Mammon. Nothing that he attempted would get the gate up or restore the connection with his partner. Levi frustratedly ripped off his headset, grabbed a tablet from its dock, the extra painting canister, and rushed to the nearest entrance. He'd have to make the grab himself. "Damn you Mammon, you couldn't stick to the mission this one time." Levi tapped on his tablet as he ran, "You just had to be greedy and push for something more than we came for." In the distance a gate crashed shut, Levi smiled having used their tactics against them.

Levi could hear the door rattle as Diavolo banged on it. It wouldn't completely stop him, just diverted him to a longer route. Diavolo was a professional that didn't wander into dead ends like the deadweight Levi was working with. Levi took a moment to crouch down near a safe wing. He scanned through the security cameras on his tablet. They were still on loop and the guards were addressing his false alarm. The main problem was Diavolo and Barbatos from Devil's Associates. "Why'd they have to be here tonight?" Levi grumbled and got back up to run toward the painting. It is a straight shot but once there, the room that stored the treasured piece would take time to navigate. At night there is a fingerprint scanner to open the room, of course, sensors at all different angles, and a wall trip that would alarm if the painting was removed.

First up, is the fingerprint scanner. Levi held up the tablet to project the saved fingerprint that he and Mammon had gathered during their recon. The panel beeped and the gate lifted offering entry to the room. Next, Levi had to avoid the sensors. Unfortunately, there was no way to disable these infrared sensors. If he had turned them off, the night guards would get an alert. Levi pulled a pair of goggles out of his pocket that would allow him to see the infrared with ease. He shimmied and contorted to make his way around the beams and towards the painting. Levi was the most unfamiliar with the last security measure. To figure out what kind of mechanism hid behind the way, Levi pulled out his tablet and took a few x-ray images. The purple-haired agent frowned as he assessed the pulleys and possible ways to bypass the whole thing entirely. The only idea that came to him was what he went with. There was no sense in wasting time when the mission was already compromised. He might as well try to get out of the museum as soon as possible. While Levi pulled the framed photo from the wall, he kept his finger on the hanging nail to simulate the pressure of the painting. Once he placed the frame on the ground, Levi grabbed his tablet and chose to overload the mechanism's battery. If it fried itself while the pressure was adequate, he hoped that at the very least they would note to replace the battery without having the alarms activate. It seemed to do the trick! There weren't any guards rushing him or blaring noises so that had to be a good sign, right? Levi snapped the corners of the frame and freed the painting. Delicately, he rolled the paper and put it into the canister.

"Levi," Diavolo entered the room but stayed by the entrance cutting off Levi's exit.

He looked around the room, trying to figure out anything he could do but he was stuck. The infrared beams were the only things between them. Maybe Diavolo thought Levi had disabled them? "Diavolo, you're too late, I've already got the painting."

"Hm," Diavolo scratched his chin and smiled, "That may be so but you're going to have to get past me if you want to leave with the painting."

If it came down to a fight, there's no way Levi would come out the victor. Diavolo had muscles on muscles, Levi wouldn't stand a chance.

By some miracle, the ventilation grate at the top corner of the room busted open. "Thought you were going to leave me behind?" Mammon smirked, propping himself up on the wall and hanging out of the vent.

"Mammon!" Levi wouldn't admit it but he was thankful to have such a tenacious partner. "Take the painting!" He chucked the container up to the man in the corner.

"Whoa!" Mammon caught the canister and saluted to the men standing in the room, "See you on the outside!"

"Wait, you're not going to help me??" Levi whined as he watched white hair disappear back into the vents.

"A shame," Diavolo shook his head. "Barbatos will probably trap him in the vents or intercept him outside. What are we going to do?"

They were locked in a stalemate. Well, nothing to lose, Levi thought. "This," he shoved his hand out in front of him, triggering the infrared sensor.

Diavolo and Levi covered their ears as the loud alarm bells rang throughout the museum.

"Are you going to stay and get caught with me?" Levi provokes.

Diavolo frowns but makes a quick exit.

Levi leaves next. He pulls out his tablet to find where the guards are coming from. Since they were previously on the other side of the building, the majority are running together in a large group. Levi pulled up the blueprint to find the closest exit, "Mammon you better make it out," he huffed and packed in his tablet. There was only one exit at the rear of the museum that didn't have a guard posted. Levi already unlocked it and it would get him close to their rendezvous spot. Just as he began running toward freedom, Levi could hear the sounds of the guards shouting. "Mammon, you better make it out so I can kill you myself." He barely made it through the doors and into the cover of night but he made it nonetheless.

~~~~~

Also posted on AO3 here 😎 Check out the other written works from the collaboration under the AO3 Collection at LeviBdayCollab or search #leviathanbday2023 here and on Twitter!

#leviathanbday2023 #obey me #obey me leviathan #obey me mammon #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me fanfic #leviathan's birthday #spies au #spies #art heist #My writing

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elishkaacademia · 2 years

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The urge to commit a crime (aka a museum heist ) solely for the aesthetic…

#art heist baby #art heist #museum heist #museum #crime #aesthetic #dark academia #academia #academia aesthetic #six of crows #kaz brekker #help #I have dreams #I promise I won’t actually do this #romaticism

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skullcandy11111198 · 7 months

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Leveragetober23 Day 2: rain

It's raining, it's pouring. (Moon's waning, she's soaring) The old man is snoring. (The new guard is snoring.) He went to bed and bumped his head. (Worms to embed, the night is dead) And couldn't get up in the morning. (Art's all gone, good morning!)

#leveragetober23 #leveragetober #leverage #parker #art heist #museum #poem

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aziraphales-library · 6 months

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Hello! I have a lost fic.

I think I found it here originally, but I have no idea what the name was. I know some key details / plotpoints.

1, They were both art thieves. Aziraphale worked with Anathema and Crowley with Eric.

2, Aziraphale has a secret 'base' made up of the upstairs flats next to him

3, They are forced by Hastur and Ligur perform a big heist involving a vault and briefcases in the toilet

4, Crowley is constantly breaking into Aziraphale's 'base' and bookshop, and always gets booby trapped

5, Aziraphale makes copies of paintings.

If anyone could help I'd be very grateful! 🙏

Hi! I've read neither of these, but a quick search tells me they both have a lot of the things you're looking for, so it's got to be one of them...

Thieves of Mercy by Fyre (T)

The Serpent has a reputation in the art world. A master thief who can wriggle into the tightest spots and extract the most well-protected paintings from the richest people in the world. He’s never even come close to being caught. Except just now. For a crime he didn’t commit. In a museum where he was scoping out his next job. Crowley’s not one to be petty but he’s not about to let anyone frame him, even if the person in question seems to be nothing more than an innocent, wide-eyed art restorer who works in the museum… _________________________________ When Good Omens meets art thievery and heist shenanigans

stalwart sun, wily moon by dustnhalos (M)

Anthony J. Crowley is a world-class art thief with a complicated past who, until now, had been pretty content with going through life as part of a prolific black market art trafficking ring. He enjoyed the thrill and danger of the hunt, especially if it meant he got to travel the world, play with state-of-the-art technology, and make enough money to afford anything he could ever want. That is, until a simple logistical hiccup leads him straight into the path of one Aziraphale Fell, former Head Conservator of the British Museum turned antique repair shop owner. Suddenly, there's a space in Crowley's life that only Aziraphale seems to fill, but his clandestine life of crime paired with Aziraphale's industry connections and indomitable penchant for good seems like a relationship doomed to fail. Little do they both know, the strands of friendship, morality, and deception in their shared circles of the London art world are interwoven in even more complex ways than either of them could have expected...

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable husbands #human au #art heist #crime #mod d

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