The most famous missing painting: the story of a masterpiece

Investing in works of art is considered one of the most profitable and reliable. Many may disagree with this thesis, but constant growth of the art market speaks for itself. According to experts, sales increased by 13% in the last year alone. In other words, more and more connoisseurs want to buy a painting or other work of art. And yet this trend has remained unchanged for many years. And if we talk about the world of collecting, then it is the paintings of great artists that are considered the most expensive pleasure. There are no limits at all. This is confirmed by the prices of paintings at auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Dorotheum, etc., often reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is why the disappearance of masterpieces of painting shocks the cultural world and is always shrouded in a thick veil of secrets.

Next, you will learn about the most famous missing painting in history. Moreover, we will not talk about the “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and two years later returned. We will not understand the intricacies around the most expensive missing “Savior of the World” in history, the same da Vinci, who, according to media reports, is on the yacht of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, we will not assess the authenticity of this painting. Let painting experts and special services do this.

We will talk about the masterpiece of painting by Rembrandt van Rhein “Christ during a storm on the Sea of Galilee” - one of the most famous paintings by the master of the Golden Age of Holland. It's also called “Storm at Sea”, “Storm on the Sea”, “Christ during a Storm on the Sea”, “Pacifying the Storm”. The uniqueness of the masterpiece lies in the fact that Rembrandt's rich legacy of approximately 300 oil paintings, 300 etchings and 100 drawings makes this painting the only seascape in Rembrandt's art.

The painting was created in 1633 and belongs to the early period of Rembrandt's work. This was the time when the 29-year-old artist moved from his own studio located in the Dutch city of Leiden to Amsterdam. While painting portraits of the nobility, he began to receive fabulous fees. At the same time he joined the capital's guild of artists, married Saskia out of Eulenburch and together with his young wife he moved to a purchased house located in a new area of Amsterdam. Today at his house there is a house-museum of the great master.

 

However, the artist was not only interested in portraits. Rembrandt, like many masters of the Renaissance period, turned to religious themes. The plot of this picture reproduces the famous biblical story from Chapter IV of the Gospel of Mark, which tells about the miracle of perfect Jesus Christ, which was called “Taming the Storm” (4:35-41).

The canvas reproduces the climax, when a strong storm puts the travelers on a boat on the brink of life and death. A huge wave hitting the bow of the boat and a violent wind is about to overturn it or throw it on the rocks. Chaos reigns on board. The disciples of Christ are terrified by the violent force of nature. Some of them struggle to keep the boat afloat. Others are numb with horror and prepare for the worst....

 

Only one person is absolutely calm because he believes in God's providence. This is Jesus Christ. The artist depicted the very moment when, a moment later, the Savior will pronounce sacramental words that will turn the raging elements into complete calm. He will say:

Rembrandt in the “Sea of Galilee” masterfully conveys the struggle between good and evil. Along with the raging sea and the panic of the disciples on the one hand and the emotional calm of Jesus on the other, the drama and dynamics of the action are enhanced by the lighting design of the picture. Please note that the canvas seems to be divided into two light parts.

 

The left part is light, formed by foaming waves and sunlight breaking through the clouds. It illuminates well the figures of sailors, the mast and sails. In this part the image is as detailed as possible. Not only the mast with sails and ropes with roller blocks are clearly visible, but also the facial features of the sailors and even their emotions. The right one is a complete contrast. It is dark, turns into almost black the color of the sea at the bottom of the canvas and evokes a feeling of anxiety.

The painting by Rembrandt van Rijn is absolutely devoid of the monumentality and stationarity inherent in many works of that time. The action instantly captures the viewer's attention, unfolding so dynamically that one can call it a kind of feature film. Probably, if Rembrandt had lived in our time, he would have become a good director.

 

And this is how Rembrandt depicted himself in his “Self-Portrait with a Golden Chain,” dated the same 1633:

Isn’t it true that one face is just as inquisitive and focused?! This speaks only of one thing - self-portrait occupied an important place in the work of Rembrandt van Rhein.

If we analyze Rembrandt’s paintings from different years from the standpoint of his painting style as a whole, then we can say that the painting “Christ in the Storm” is a kind of transition from the early Rembrandt with extremely detailed works to the master who is better known to the general public for his free brushwork. He expressed the characters' facial features and emotions through the dramatic use of chiaroscuro. In other words, the painting organically combines the exaggerated drama of the Baroque era, which is characteristic of the early period of the artist’s work, and the pronounced realism present on the canvases in subsequent years.

Of course, the marine theme, unique to Rembrandt’s works, an interesting plot and a painting style that combines two eras of painting in one work, made the painting a recognized masterpiece. It was admired by many generations of art lovers. Art historians used it to study the nuances of Rembrandt’s work. Gallery owners received good income. However, to the great regret of the entire world cultural community, the public life of the masterpiece was cut short in 1990...

The canvas was exhibited in the private gallery of Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, USA.).

 

At 1:30 a.m. on March 18, 1900, robbers entered the gallery and took away 13 valuable museum exhibits, including the world-famous masterpiece “Christ in the Storm.”

Today we can say with confidence that this was the largest and most daring robbery of a museum exhibition of the 20th century. The amount of damage amounted to no less than 500 million US dollars. Among the missing, along with “Storm at Sea,” are the following paintings:

– “Concert” by Vermeer of Delft, circa 1663;

– “The Pimp” by Dirk Vann Babyuren, 1662;

– “Man and woman in black" and "Self-Portrait" by Rembrandt;

– “Landscape with an obelisk” Govert Flink, 1638;

– "U Tornoni"Edouard Manet";

– “Exit to the weighing”, “Cortege in the vicinity of Florence” and three charcoal sketches by Edgar Degas.

The robbers simply cut the canvases out of the frames. Today, empty frames remind of the sad event in the halls of the museum. The management does not give up hope that sooner or later the masterpieces will again take their place.

 

In addition, the list of stolen valuables includes a bronze tip of the Napoleonic banner in the form of an eagle - the thieves probably thought it was gold. And also a Chinese bronze vase, dated 1200-1100. B.C. Just imagine, she weighed 80 kg. Of course, these exhibits are of museum value, but their cost is several times less than any painting remaining in the gallery. Why weren't they taken instead of a heavy vase? Amateurs?

This crime has more questions than answers. How did the Boston municipality, which was responsible for security issues, allow intruders into it? Why did one of the two gallery security guards turn out to be a part-time student, a marijuana lover, and why did he open the doors? Why didn't the second guard who heard the noise sound the alarm? Why, in the end, did the robbers, having handcuffed the guards, spend 81 minutes in the museum, and the police never arrived? Maybe someone helped the criminals from within? The theft was discovered only at 8:15 a.m. after the day shift of museum security arrived. There are many questions, but no answers.

Until now, nothing is known about the stolen exhibits. To be fair, it should be noted that in the middle of the last decade, information leaked to the media that the crime had been solved. However, this turned out not to be the case. FBI officials denied the rumors and reported that the investigation had learned the names of the criminals, but as it turned out, the criminals themselves were dead. Again a question and a thick veil of secrets...

 

As a result, the criminal case remains open and the works of art have not been found to this day.

Of course, Rembrandt’s painting is not the only masterpiece whose disappearance has caused a lot of noise. The following can be included in a kind of TOP of such paintings.

Stolen in 2010 from the Mohammed-Mahmoud Khalil Gallery in Cairo (Egypt). Size 65x24 cm. Approximate estimated value: 50 million dollars.

Stolen in May 2010 along with four other paintings from the Paris Museum of Modern Art. Estimate: 100 million euros. The attacker was detained and immediately admitted that he had thrown the canvases into a trash container. The creations have not been found to this day, and the testimony of the arrested person is in great doubt.

The painting is almost 6 square meters in size. m stolen from the Oratory of St. Lawrence (Palermo, Sicily), where it hung above my altar. According to one version, the kidnapping was carried out by the Sicilian mafia. According to another – destroyed during the abduction or located abroad. There is even an opinion that the masterpiece disappeared or was destroyed during the 1980 Palermo earthquake.

It was part of the 12-panel altar of the Cathedral in the Belgian city of Ghent.

Stolen by the Nazis in the 40s of the last century from the collection of the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow (Poland).

Kidnapped in October 2012 from Rotterdam museum Kunsthalle (Netherlands). The robbers were caught and testified that the painting was burned to ashes in the stove of the house. As a result of the search and examination, traces of colorful pigment were found among the remains of the ash. There is no other evidence for their words. The painting is on the wanted list.

The canvas became part of the same robbery in Rotterdam. The criminal group consisted of several people. And the mother of one of them testified that, fearing her son’s arrest, buried stolen museum exhibits in an abandoned village house in Caraclius (Romania). And later she dug up the paintings and burned them in the oven. The result is that the paintings are still wanted.

The portrait was stolen from Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie.

For all of these abductions, criminal cases have not been closed and search activities are underway, which means there remains hope for the return of the paintings.