Rembrandt's Only Seascape: The Lost Masterpiece

24.05.2021

The storm on the sea of Galilee, beautiful unique art piece, Rembrandt's only seascape that pictures biblical story, Jesus in the storm with the sailors where he is the only one calm because he has faith. The painting brilliantly transmits this story into art. When talking about its brilliance there is also an urge to mention the self portrait of Rembrandt in it where he is the only one looking directly at the observer. Simply genius.

However there is not a chance that you could see the painting live. It was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston on March 18th 1990. The robbery is probably the biggest art heist in history. Even though The storm on the sea of Galilee is the most expensive but also priceless work that was stolen it is not the only one. Many more beautiful paintings such as Manet's Chez Tortoni or The concert from Vermeer were stolen then and they are still missing today. The museum even announced a reward of 10 million dollars. However is there any chance that the art pieces would suddenly appear back in the light?

There were many versions of "How the robbery really happened". However, none of them led to finding the art itself. The fascinating thing is that it truly was almost a perfect crime. The thieves dressed up as policemen came to the museum because of a "disturbance", handcuffed the security guards and then stole the art. Of course there are many weird factors, which do not fit in the story and that is why the robbery remains a mystery. For example the thieves were in the museum for a long time so how did they know the police were not on the way? Also, the stolen items were very different, some of them took a long time to take from the exposition they were in and the thieves took the time to steal them even though they were basically worthless. Those are the mysteries that can be solved only when the paintings are found.

The main track leads to one Italian mafia group that supposedly stole The storm on the sea of the Galilee. Most of the people who had something to do with these painting are already dead of natural causes or murder. The paintings can be used as a currency on the black market, in the arms or drug trade. Therefore, these paintings are priceless also for the mafia. However, there is also an opinion that the art pieces were already destroyed because of the fuss around it. It is possible that the thieves got scared of the possibility of prison and they got rid of the painting. That would be a pity because many people still hope that they will return to the museum.

Speculation is the only way here. The painting may be perfectly safe, destroyed or something in between because of the environment they are in. The questions will remain unanswered, the theories unproven. I personally hope that the paintings will be found because they are just spectacular, one of a kind, unique. Especially The storm on the sea of Galilee is simply irreplaceable. That is both the best and the worst quality of art. We are not able to recreate it ever again. It is based on the realness of its author and the magic of the moment. Uniqueness is uniqueness.

Anna Čtrnáctá 3.c