Illus­tra­tions of stolen art­works are metic­u­lous­ly cat­a­loged in the chap­ter, offer­ing read­ers an insight­ful explo­ration into the his­to­ry and impli­ca­tions of art theft. The detailed descrip­tions of each piece pro­vide not only the name of the artist and the year of cre­ation but also offer con­text regard­ing their ori­gins, mate­ri­als, and the muse­ums or col­lec­tions from which they were tak­en. This col­lec­tion of stolen art rep­re­sents some of the most sig­nif­i­cant works in the art world, empha­siz­ing the trag­ic loss of cul­tur­al her­itage. By recount­ing the sto­ries behind these thefts, the chap­ter under­scores the urgency of pre­serv­ing art, as each stolen item sym­bol­izes not just a loss for the muse­um or coun­try, but also for glob­al his­to­ry.

One of the first notable pieces men­tioned is Madeleine de France, a 1536 oil paint­ing by Corneille de Lyon that was tak­en from the Muse­um of Fine Arts in Blois, France. This work is fol­lowed by an ivory sculp­ture titled Adam and Eve, cre­at­ed by Georg Petel in 1627, which was stolen from the Rubens House in Antwerp, Bel­gium. Addi­tion­al­ly, a tobac­co box craft­ed by Jean-Bap­tiste Isabey in 1805, made from gold, enam­el, and ivory, was tak­en from the Valais His­to­ry Muse­um in Switzer­land. These ear­ly exam­ples rep­re­sent the theft of both paint­ings and arti­facts, high­light­ing the vari­ety of objects that have been tar­get­ed over the years. The inclu­sion of such works pro­vides a snap­shot of the range of stolen art, from large, impos­ing pieces to small­er, intri­cate objects, each with its own sig­nif­i­cance in art his­to­ry.

The chap­ter delves fur­ther into the com­plex­i­ties of art theft by high­light­ing Sibylle of Cleves, an oil paint­ing by Lucas Cranach the Younger from around 1540, which was stolen from the New Cas­tle in Baden-Baden, Ger­many. The addi­tion of Jan van Kessel the Elder’s 1676 still life, also tak­en from the Euro­pean Fine Art Foun­da­tion in Maas­tricht, Nether­lands, deep­ens the explo­ration into how diverse art­works across dif­fer­ent regions have been lost. These pieces, along with Fes­ti­val of Mon­keys by David Teniers the Younger from 1630, stolen from the Thomas Hen­ry Muse­um in Cher­bourg-en-Cotentin, France, show the vari­ety in the types of art stolen and their wide­spread ori­gins. The theft of these works brings to light how art theft is not a local­ized issue but a glob­al one, with pieces being tak­en from dif­fer­ent coun­tries across Europe and beyond.

The final part of the chap­ter reveals even more pro­found exam­ples of stolen art, includ­ing Alle­go­ry of Autumn, orig­i­nal­ly attrib­uted to Jan Brueghel the Elder but lat­er reat­trib­uted to Hierony­mus Franck­en II. Stolen from the Muse­um of Fine Arts in Angers, France, this paint­ing serves as a stark reminder of the fragili­ty of cul­tur­al her­itage. The loss of Sleep­ing Shep­herd by François Bouch­er, tak­en from a muse­um in Chartres, France, and a flint­lock pis­tol craft­ed by Barth à Col­mar, stolen from Thann, France, both illus­trate how even the small­est objects, along­side larg­er mas­ter­pieces, are tar­gets in the world of art theft. These works are sym­bol­ic of the vast range of cul­tur­al arti­facts lost to theft—items of both sig­nif­i­cant val­ue and intri­cate crafts­man­ship, under­scor­ing the vast­ness of the cul­tur­al void left behind by their dis­ap­pear­ance.

Fur­ther­more, Pietà by Christoph Schwarz, a 1550 sculp­ture, was stolen from Gruyères Cas­tle, and The Bish­op by Eustache Le Sueur was tak­en from the Muse­um of the Citadel in Belfort, France. These notable thefts are part of a larg­er nar­ra­tive that also includes sev­er­al chal­ices from Bel­gian muse­ums and a com­mem­o­ra­tive medal­lion stolen from the His­to­ry Muse­um in Lucerne, Switzer­land. The men­tion of these works rein­forces the idea that art theft con­tin­ues to be a wide­spread issue, impact­ing not only paint­ings but sculp­tures, arti­facts, and oth­er items that hold cul­tur­al, his­tor­i­cal, and finan­cial val­ue. The chap­ter con­cludes by reit­er­at­ing the mag­ni­tude of the thefts and the loss of invalu­able cul­tur­al trea­sures that result from these crim­i­nal acts. It serves as a reminder of the need for more robust inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion to com­bat art theft, recov­er stolen works, and ensure the pro­tec­tion of cul­tur­al her­itage for future gen­er­a­tions.

This exten­sive cat­a­log of stolen works paints a detailed pic­ture of how art theft dis­rupts both the art world and glob­al cul­tur­al her­itage. The vari­ety of pieces stolen, span­ning dif­fer­ent peri­ods, styles, and mate­ri­als, empha­sizes that art theft is not lim­it­ed to high-pro­file paint­ings but extends to all forms of cul­tur­al her­itage. The chap­ter illus­trates the ongo­ing strug­gle to pro­tect and recov­er these price­less arti­facts, high­light­ing the chal­lenges involved in track­ing down stolen pieces and the impor­tance of pre­serv­ing them for future gen­er­a­tions. The theft of art not only dimin­ish­es the artis­tic land­scape but also dam­ages the col­lec­tive mem­o­ry of human­i­ty, under­scor­ing the need for stronger inter­na­tion­al efforts to pre­vent and address these crimes.