25 Years After Art Heist Empty Frames Still Hang In Boston's Gardner Museum

"Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum houses a world-class art collection. But in the last two decades it's been better known for the art that isn't there — half a billion dollars of masterpieces that disappeared from its walls 25 years ago."

"That robbery — which included the loss of three Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Manet, and sketches by Degas — has haunted Boston, law enforcement and the art world ever since.Boston Globe reporter Stephen Kurkjian has spent the last two decades investigating the heist. He's the author of the book Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist. He tells NPR's Renee Montagne how it happened:"

"'Two men dressed in police uniforms rang the bell to the employees' entrance of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum," he says. "They showed up on the monitor screen of one of the two night watchmen who were on duty that night. ... They said, 'We're here to investigate a disturbance,' so he buzzed them in.'"