The Artwork Story Newsletter

The April 14 Statistical Impossibility.

- April 14, 1840: Isabella Stewart Gardner’s birthday
- April 14, 1975: MFA, Boston Heist
- April 14, 1976: Palm Beach Towers Heist
- April 14, 1991: Van Gogh Museum Heist

Who is Isabella Stewart Gardner?
March 18, 1990: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum FBI’s #1 art heist.

How does the Director of Security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum spend twenty years writing books on art heists, co-author Stealing Rembrandts, and dedicate his entire November 2025 book, The Rembrandt Heist, to Myles Connor and the exact April 14, 1975 theft of Rembrandt’s Portrait of Elsbeth van Rijn—yet completely omit that it occurred on his own founder’s birthday?

The Gardner Museum does not treat April 14 as a mere footnote. By mandate of Isabella’s will, the museum conducts an annual memorial service every April 14th, marks the blooming of the historic hanging nasturtiums, and publicly celebrates her birthday every single year. Anthony Amore has walked those exact halls during these celebrations.

A 1-in-365 calendar match right down the street from the Gardner is not an oversight for a sitting chief of security who claims the title of art historian. Writing entire books centered around an April 14th Rembrandt theft while erasing the founder’s birthday from the narrative is a deliberate omission.

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The April 14 Statistical Impossibility.

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