On This Day
This Museum in Oslo, Norway, was Robbed of The Scream
The famous painting and a second well-known art piece were both stolen, in 2004.
On this day in 2004, at the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, a band of thieves managed to steal a pair of famous paintings successfully. However, did they ultimately get away with their crime?
August 22, a typical day of business for the museum halted to a stop when, just after 11 a.m., two thieves clad in ski masks entered the building. The criminals “asked” to see the most famous works. Of the pieces ultimately taken, one was The Scream — one of four versions done by Edvard Munch, and the second, the Madonna, another work done by Munch. During the robbery, one of the robbers ordered everyone to the ground as the other one removed the arts from the wall with a wire cutter. Minutes later, the pair left with the two pieces, collectively estimated to be worth $100 million, and were gone by the time authorities arrived on the scene. Unfortunately, while the thieves were captured on the museum’s security cameras, the quality of the footage was too poor to be of any use in identifying them. According to witnesses to the crime, the robbers were rather clumsy, even dropping the works on their way out.
During the investigation into the theft, the robbers’ getaway vehicle, a black Audi, was…
