“Aesthetics are above ethics?.“ Oscar Wilde
Two? billions of dollars. That's what they're worth? art objects? which he stole. From an addict?? strange, with a persistent?? unyielding?. Refined connaisseur or vandal?
Stéphane Breitwieser, a young man with allure? victorian? and air of a gentleman, is the most prolific ho? of works of art of all times. He didn't steal to earn money, but only to release art. Always in the daylight, from huge or small museums, from castles or memorial houses, only during the program, discreetly, silently, under the eyes of the security agents, alone or assisted by his girlfriend , only with a skillfully handled Swiss army knife, without s? destroy? nothing, without traces, without regrets. ?if?r? s? be caught, for six years.
Cranach, Bruegel, Boucher, Watteau, Goyen, Dürer – so many, and still the two? the rooms seem huge? maelstrom of colors, amplified by the shine of ivory, added to the glitter of silver, and multiplied by the power of gold. Oil paintings, mainly from the 16th and 17th centuries, made by masters of the late Renaissance and early Baroque styles, with savory details and full of movement is life. Portraits, landscapes, seascapes, nature? dead?, allegories, rustic scenes, bucolic scenes. Exposed from the floor to to the ceiling, from left to right, from a room? and in another. Arranged thematically, geographically or by? the whim of the moment.
A wooden iconostasis, a tray of brass?, a mercy box, a stained glass window. Pharmacy jars and board games from other times. Another group of ivory sculptures?. A violin?, a horn, a flute, a trumpet?. Other pieces were stacked on armchairs, leaned against the walls, balanced on windowsills, piled on piles of clothes, slipped under the bed and filed in the closet. Wristwatches, tapestries, mugs, flintlock pistols, hand-tied baskets and several ivory statuettes. A medieval knight's helmet, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, a table clock? with precious stones, an illustrated prayer book, from the Middle Ages.
Porcelain plates, bowls, chalices, cups, a splendid? warship – extravagant?, made of solid silver – medieval weapons, a knight's helmet, two? Gallé vases, six gold pocket watches, an hourglass, another table clock, wood carvings, ceramic pieces, an oil painting on sheets? of copper and countless ivory pieces, including a stunning sculpture: Adam and Eve.
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The hotel room was small, with only one chair, on which he sat. I used the luggage rack as a stool. Îbetween us is an office.
I prefer to? do I keep eye contact during a live interview? I use my digital recorder to record the conversation, but I also take notes, noting in writing the nonverbal reactions, such as gestures and facial expressions. In the middle of a series of questions that I was asking him to i manage to understand how Breitwieser could stealing with such skill while people were nearby, a skill I still couldn't master. I explain it to me, he interrupted the conversation and asked me:
< span>– So, did you see?
– what s see?
– What did I do?
– No, I answered. What did you do?
– Look around the room?
Didn't he seem out of place in the cramped room?
of the hotel.
– I'm sorry, I finally said. I don't see anything strange.
Breitwieser got up from his chair, turned his back to me and took Surprised. There, partially visible under the belt of my pants, is my laptop. He had taken it the moment I looked down to see it. I write something down. I simply hadn't noticed his absence. Then I suddenly and viscerally understood his knack for stealing.
Author
Michael Finkel is an American journalist and author of several volumes: True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa, The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit.