Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Napoleonic Flag Topper

Summary: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990 nets an etching, two art objects, including a Napoleonic flag topper, and 10 paintings.

Napoleonic flag topper, a historic bronze finial removed from second-floor Short Gallery during March 1990 art heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; "1" below eagle signifies the Imperial Guard's First Regiment of Foot Grenadiers (Garde Impériale de l'Empéreur Napoléon: 1er Régiment de Grénadiers à Pied): Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A finial acts as a Napoleonic flag topper, appeals to flag-lovers and assumes incomplete or symbolic looks, when it appears without its flag-mounted flagstaff, after the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft.

The metal flag topper belonged atop an early nineteenth-century Napoleonic flagstaff until it broke loose from the flag set during an 81-minute robbery March 18, 1990. Its cooperation with removal counted among the more successful break, cut and grab movements during the Museum's $500-plus million-valued robbery the morning after Saint Patrick's Day. The decision by two thieves disguised as Boston policemen to discontinue detaching the Napoleonic flag-mounted flagstaff described one of two setbacks on the Museum's second floor.

The largest private art heist in United States history ensnared another art object, an ancient bronze Chinese beaker, as well as one etching and 10 paintings.

Thieves broke bronze eagle finial off the framed flag that survives as the standard for the Napoleonic Imperial Guard's First Regiment of Foot Grenadiers (Garde Impériale de l'Empéreur Napoléon: 1er Régiment de Grénadiers à Pied); reverse of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's flag lists the regiment's battles and campaigns prior to the Battle of Waterloo (1815): R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2,500-piece Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum finds its genesis in the 19th-century private art collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Lowell Gardner at 152 Beacon Street.

The Museum's 20th-century opening gave Isabella's (April 14, 1840-July 17, 1924) and John's (Nov. 26, 1837-Dec. 10, 1898) private collection the green light for public access. The first floor's Blue, Macknight and Yellow Rooms and the second floor's Short Gallery have art objects and artworks that held personal meaning for the couple. The only robbery since the Museum's opening Jan. 1, 1903, involves the Blue Room and the Short Gallery as well as the second floor's Dutch Room.

Only the Short Gallery's Napoleonic flag topper, as a memento from Beacon Street, jars the robbers' impersonal selections during the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft.

Napoleonic finial with eagle, staff, cravat and framed flag, displayed, left of fireplace mantel, in hall at 152 Beacon Street; 1884 photograph by George William Sheldon (1843-1914): G.W. Sheldon, Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

The theft section of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum website keeps online images and information about the two missing art objects and the 11 waylaid artworks.

The segment on the Short Gallery losses lets visitors look upon the Napoleonic flag topper and its flag-mounted flagstaff in images from about 1882 and 1926. The first date memorializes the entryway location of the Garde Impériale de l'Empéreur Napoléon: 1er Régiment de Grénadiers à Pied flag set, dated 1813 to 1814. The second date notes the Imperial Guard of the Emperor Napoleon: 1st Regiment of Foot Grenadiers nestled alongside the Short Gallery's doorway to the Tapestry Room.

The website offers a $100,000 reward for "information leading directly to the recovery" of the Napoleonic flag topper from the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum art theft.

Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John ("Jack") Lowell Gardner, was billed for the "Flag of the 1st Regt Imp Guard" but Sypher & Co.'s receipt noted payment "from Mrs. I.S. G's money"; "Portrait of John Lowell Gardner," 1895 oil on canvas by Antonio Mancini (Nov. 14, 1852-Dec. 28, 1930); Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, second-floor Short Gallery: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Short Gallery losses-related segment provides a copy of the receipt from Sypher & Co., art and antiques dealer at 739 & 741 Broadway, New York.

The bill quantifies, from the San Donato sale Oct. 20, 1880, $300 for the Short Gallery's flag and $700 for the Dutch Room door's Genoese velvet. The billing to John Lowell Gardner of 22 Congress Street in Boston reveals a bill date of Nov. 9, 1880, and payment receipt Nov. 16, 1880. The lower, acknowledgment of receipt portion specifies payment "from Mrs. I.S.G.'s money" for purchase of the flag and velvet if not for the bronze eagle finial.

A flag and a Rembrandt self-portrait too troublesome to transport turn a Napoleonic flag topper and an etching into Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft casualties.

ca. 1830s etching of Villa di San Donato, Novoli quarter, northwestern Florence, west central Italy: The “San Donato” sale, held Monday, March 15, to Wednesday, March 17, 1880, entailed a massive sale of the palace and collections of the Russian House of Demidov by Count Pavel “Paul” Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince of San Donato (Oct. 9, 1839-Jan. 26, 1885); the Imperial Guard flag purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner belonged to the collections of Count Anatole Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato (April 17, 1812-April 29, 1870) and his wife, Princess Mathilde-Létizia Wilhelmine Bonaparte (May 27, 1820-Jan. 2, 1904), and of Princess Mathilde’s father, Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (Nov. 15, 1784-June 24, 1860), youngest brother of Napoléon I (Aug. 15, 1769-May 5, 1821), first Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français): Nouveau Guide de la Ville de Florence et Ses Environs (1838), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Napoleonic flag topper, a historic bronze finial removed from second-floor Short Gallery during March 1990 art heist at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Finial_robbed_from_Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum.jpg

Thieves broke bronze eagle finial off the framed flag that survives as the standard for the Napoleonic Imperial Guard's First Regiment of Foot Grenadiers (Garde Impériale de l'Empéreur Napoléon: 1er Régiment de Grénadiers à Pied); reverse of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's flag lists the regiment's battles and campaigns prior to the Battle of Waterloo (1815): R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grenadier_Pied_1_1812_Revers.png

Napoleonic finial with eagle, staff, cravat and framed flag, displayed in hall at 152 Beacon Street; 1884 photograph by George William Sheldon (1843-1914): G.W. Sheldon, Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/Artistichouses2A#page/46/mode/1up

"Portrait of John Lowell Gardner," 1895 oil on canvas by Antonio Mancini (Nov. 14, 1852-Dec. 28, 1930); Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, second-floor Short Gallery: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antonio_Mancini_-_Portrait_of_John_Lowell_Gardner.jpg

ca. 1830s etching of Villa di San Donato, Novoli quarter, northwestern Florence, west central Italy: The “San Donato” sale, held Monday, March 15, to Wednesday, March 17, 1880, entailed a massive sale of the palace and collections of the Russian House of Demidov by Count Pavel “Paul” Pavlovich Demidov, 2nd Prince of San Donato (Oct. 9, 1839-Jan. 26, 1885); the Imperial Guard flag purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner belonged to the collections of Count Anatole Nikolaievich Demidov, 1st Prince of San Donato (April 17, 1812-April 29, 1870) and his wife, Princess Mathilde-Létizia Wilhelmine Bonaparte (May 27, 1820-Jan. 2, 1904), and of Princess Mathilde’s father, Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (Nov. 15, 1784-June 24, 1860), youngest brother of Napoléon I (Aug. 15, 1769-May 5, 1821), first Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français): Nouveau Guide de la Ville de Florence et Ses Environs (1838), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Villa_San_Donato_(1822_print).jpg

For further information:

"18 U.S. Code § 668 - Theft of Major Artwork." Cornell University Law School > Legal Information Institute > U.S. Code > Title 18 > Part I > chapter 31 > 668.
Available @ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/668?quicktabs_8=1#quicktabs-8

Baker, Billy. 10 March 2015. "Gardener Keeps Gardner Museum's Atrium in Bloom." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/09/gardener-keeps-gardner-atrium-bloom/bbSZctlMtkEDy9UDYWrO4K/story.html

Boston Landmarks Commission. Report on the Potential Designation of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a Landmark under Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as Amended.
Available @ https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/ISGM%20Study%20Report%20as%20Amended_tcm3-39717.pdf

"Collection." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection

FBI. "FBI Announces Top Ten Art Crimes." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > News > Stories > 2005 > November. November 15, 2005.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2005/november/topten_art111505

FBI. "Gardner Museum in Boston Offering $5 Million Reward for Stolen Art." YouTube. March 8, 2013.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpD1HbcFfQ

FBI Boston Division. "Boston FBI Continues Hunt for Stolen Artwork." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2010.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2010/bs031510.htm

FBI Boston Division. "FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Heist." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > Boston Division > Press Releases > 2013.
Available via FBI @ https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/boston/press-releases/2013/fbi-provides-new-information-regarding-the-1990-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art-heist

"The Gardner Museum Theft." Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) > FBI Top Ten Art Crimes.
Available @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

"Johannes Vermeer: The Complete Works." Vermeer Foundation.
Available @ http://www.vermeer-foundation.org/

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 February 2017. “Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Bronze Chinese Beaker.” Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_10.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 February 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Flinck Obelisk." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Couple." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_20.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Seascape." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_13.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Rembrandt Self-Portrait." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 January 2017. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Vermeer Concert." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-art_27.html

Mashberg, Tom. March 1998. "Stealing Beauty." Vanity Fair > Culture.
Available @ http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1998/03/biggest-art-heist-us-history

Mashberg, Tom. 26 February 2015. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist: 25 Years of Theories." New York Times > Arts > Art & Design.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/arts/design/isabella-stewart-gardner-heist-25-years-of-theories.html?_r=0

Murphy, Shelley. 17 March 2015. "Search for Artworks from Gardner Heist Continues 25 Years Later." Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/17/gardner-museum-art-heist-one-boston-most-enduring-mysteries-years-later/9U3tp1kJMa4Zn4uClI1cdM/story.html

Nouveau Guide de la Ville de Florence et Ses Environs Avec la Description de la Galerie Publique, du Palais Pitti et du Cabinet Physique Orné de Vues et Statues. 1838. Dernière edition. Completée, Augmentée et Corrigée. Florence, Italy: Ange Garinei Libraire.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008926029
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/nouveauguidedel02unkngoog

“Prince Demidoff and the San Donato Sale.” 1880. The Art Amateur, vol. 2 (April 1, 1880): 98-99.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/jstor-25627067

"Reputed Mobster Arrested, Reportedly Tried to Fence Gardner Museum Art." The Boston Globe > Posted Apr 17, 2015 at 3:14 PM > Updated Apr 18, 2015 at 10:52 PM.
Available @ http://www.telegram.com/article/20150417/NEWS/304179654

Sheldon, George William. MDCCCLXXXIV (1884). Artistic Houses: Being a Series of Interior Views of a Number of the Most Beautiful and Celebrated Homes in the United States With a Description of the Art Treasures Contained Therein. Vol. Two Part II. New York NY: D. Appleton and Company.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/Artistichouses2A
Available via Smithsonian Libraries @ http://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/artistichouses2a

"Thirteen Works: Explore the Gardner's Stolen Art." Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum > Resources > Theft.
Available @ http://www.gardnermuseum.org/resources/theft

Thomson, Jason. 3 May 2016. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Theft: Is the Massive Art Heist About to be Solved?" The Christian Science Monitor > USA > USA Update.
Available @ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0503/Isabella-Stewart-Gardner-theft-Is-the-massive-art-heist-about-to-be-solved

WBUR. 17 March 2010. "'The Concert' by Johannes Vermeer." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrPqiGIJYYs

WBUR. 12 March 2009. "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBRWMMHOI8

Williams, Paige. March 2010. "The Art of the Story." Boston Magazine > Gardner Museum > Gardner Museum Theft.
Available @ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2010/03/gardner-heist/3/