The biggest art heist ever pulled off.
On Thursday, March 11, Netflix released the first trailer for its latest documentary series, titled This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist. The four-part series, which premieres Wednesday, April 7 on the streaming service, takes a closer look at the 1990 robbery of Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Per Netflix, "Over St. Patrick's Day weekend in 1990, legendary works by Rembrandt, Vermeer and others worth over half a billion dollars today were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. This four-part documentary series from director Colin Barnicle covers the leads, dead ends, lucky breaks and speculations that characterized the investigation of this still unsolved mystery."
For those unfamiliar with the case, the infamous robbery has yet to be solved. In fact, a $10 million reward was offered by the museum for whoever assists in recovering the stolen works of art. Thus, Netflix has invited its viewers to join in on the mysterious hunt.
"Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was an art thief's delight," a voiceover noted in the new trailer below. "Millions of dollars worth of artwork."
What is known about the robbery? According to the show's interviewees, two men dressed as police officers arrived at the museum on St. Patrick's Day and uttered, "Gentlemen, this is a robbery."
As one woman highlights in a confessional, there was "no shortage of possible suspects" at the time. Apparently, both the Italian and Irish mob were frontrunner suspects in the case.
"The mafia knew that having a stolen masterpiece is a get-out-of-jail free card," one expert relays. "The Feds will deal with you. They'll let you out of jail."
However, it wasn't just one masterpiece that was taken, it was 13 priceless pieces of artwork. Tragically, the only Rembrandt seascape, titled The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, was nabbed in the heist.
The new trailer stated, "This was huge, not just locally, but internationally."
Everywhere from the Middle East to Japan to South America were suggested as possible locations for the stolen art. One contributor concluded, "It's mind-blowing."
You can say that again! For a taste of what's to come, check out the new trailer above.
This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist premieres Wednesday, April 7 on Netflix.