An FBI photograph of the crime scene after the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery show empty frames laying on the floor Courtesy of Netflix
In the movies, the ruling maxim is “print the legend”. After 30 years of investigations of the theft of 13 works valued at more than $500m from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the legend is still all there is to print.
So we see in
This Is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist, a four-part documentary series on the Gardner theft now streaming on Netflix. The hyperbolic subtitle, like the oft-used adjective “legendary”, is now part of Gardner lore. The series still makes for a head-scratching unsolved mystery for the vast Netflix audience that is new to the cold case. An for the general public, it helps that this true crime tale devolves into yet another Boston mob saga.
Review: This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist, directed by Colin Barnicle.
After dreaming for many years of visiting Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, I was surprised by its dour presence when I finally arrived on its doorstep. The original building presented a rather austere face to the world, its stolid facade dwarfing an unobtrusive entrance. However, once inside, my every longed-for fantasy was realised.
The internal courtyard glowed with light sucked down from the glass ceiling. Palms and exotic ferns flourished in this hothouse environment. Visitors stood in awe it looked like a Venetian palace, rooted like a tropical orchid in a frost-bitten landscape. In every room, masterpieces softly glowed within their gilt frames; antique furniture filled each nook, vases, and objects d’art on every surface. It was magical.
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HomeFront: Kate Winslet in uniform, Mark Sandmanâs âsecret band,â plus a rising quilt star
By Marie Morris Globe Correspondent,Updated April 15, 2021, 3:36 p.m.
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Kate Winslet in the HBO series Mare of Easttown. Michele K. Short/HBO
Welcome back to HomeFront, where the doors that have been slightly ajar are flying open to let normal life back in. If youâre not at least partly vaccinated, you probably know someone who is, and maybe youâve had a meal on a patio. You might even have received an e-mail about reopening procedures at a place you used to go all the time. We canât shake the feeling that became our constant companion early in the stay-at-home period: that itâs safer on the couch than out in the world. Luckily we have plenty of company, virtually if not physically. And almost everyone needs something to watch or listen to. The Globeâs experts have plenty of suggestions.