Clue Surfaces in the Gardner Museum Art Heist, Formerly Investigated by Robert Fisher (’01)
As they sat across from each other, according to Calantropo, Donati unwrapped a shiny finial in the shape of an eagle. He placed the decorative piece, designed for the top of a flagpole, on a desk and asked how much it was worth.
This eagle button was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, among other valuable works of art.
Calantropo was stunned. He immediately recognized the gilt-bronze object from media reports as one of 13 works of art, including several Rembrandts, stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum about a month earlier, he told the Globe in a lengthy interview.
“Jesus, Bobby, why didn’t you steal the Mona Lisa?” Calantropo remembered asking him.
Donati wrapped it up and left. It was the last time Calantropo saw him. The following year, Donati, 50, was brutally murdered. His killer was never found. The finial, which was swept from atop a Napoleonic flag during the brutal robbery, also did not take place, of course.
Three decades later, the largest art theft in American history remains unsolved, despite a $10 million reward. No one has been charged and none of the artworks have been recovered.