Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is known as a "palace turned inside out" because of its beautiful courtyard. In 1990, the Gardner was robbed of 13 paintings worth a collective £370 million, the largest property theft in history.
Photograph by David L Ryan, The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Photograph by M. Scott Brauer, The New York Times/Redux
The Louvre's main entrance is illuminated at night. The world's biggest art museum, the Louvre was robbed in 1911 when museum security was much more lax.
Photograph by Robert Harding Picture Library, National Geographic Creative
Arguably the world's most famous work of art, the ”Mona Lisa” is now displayed behind thick plexiglass and a wooden barrier to protect it from the 15,000 visitors who flock to the Louvre each day.
Photograph by Pierre Adenis, laif/Redux
Named for a former Prime Minister of Egypt, the Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt — notable for its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works — was robbed in 1978 and 2010.
Photograph by Khaled Desouki, AFP/Getty Images
Post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh's ”Poppy Flowers,” also known as ”Vase and Flowers,” was stolen twice from the Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum. Worth at least £37 million, it remains missing.
Photograph by Art Collection 2, Alamy
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was, in 1972, the site of the 'Skylight Caper': Armed thieves rappelled through a skylight and made off with £1.5 million worth of paintings and jewellery.
Photograph by David Giral, Alamy
The MMFA's then-Director of Public Relations examines photos of the 18 paintings stolen in the 1972 heist. Due to the dramatic method of entry, police suspected the thieves were experienced members of an international crime ring.
Photograph by Bettmann Archive, Getty Images
Vienna's Fälschermuseum (in English, the Museum of Art Fakes) displays forgeries of famous masterworks.
Photograph by of Museum of Art Fakes
'The Procuress,' believed to be a forgery by Han van Meegeren, is one of the famous forgeries on the walls of the Museum of Art Fakes.
Photograph by Paul Fearn, Alamy