Russian Hermitage Museum Thefts Uncovered

Great art treasures have incredible price tags, and we often hear about fabulous sums paid for rare masterpieces. But even though museums hold vast collections of such riches, few people realize what it takes to house, secure, and care for them. Recently Moscow disclosed the theft of millions of dollars worth of artwork from the Hermitage Museum. The robberies were discovered when precious drawings began to appear at an auction house in London. A now-deceased curator, her husband and son filched over 220 precious objects over several years. Opportunities for thievery were made easy because of the crisis in museum funding that began in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shabby recordkeeping, poor inventory procedures, and disgruntled museum staff, combined with out-dated buildings and security to make the thefts easy. Since only a handful of objects have been recovered, the museum’s plan to modernize its security and monitoring is like closing the barn door after the horses have run away.