莉莉·霍莱因（Lilli Hollein），维也纳应用艺术博物馆（MAK）馆长，刚刚经历了她职业生涯中最艰难的六周。8月27日，两名持枪窃徒闯入博物馆的特别展览，抢走了由梵克雅宝（Van Cleef & Arpels）于1939年为埃及王后纳兹莉设计、镶嵌673颗钻石的铂金项链。两人未戴口罩，进入维也纳环城大街（Ringstrasse）上的新文艺复兴风格建筑，购买门票后进入展厅，用他们藏在衣服里的锤子砸碎了防弹展示柜，共砸了41下。他们夺走价值超过400万美元的项链后，徒步穿过邻近的城市公园（Stadtpark）逃离。
LILLI HOLLEIN, the director of Vienna’s Museum for Applied Art (MAK), has just been through the toughest six weeks of her career. On August 27th two armed thieves stole a platinum necklace bedecked with 673 diamonds, designed by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1939 for Queen Nazli of Egypt, from a special exhibition at the museum. Wearing no masks, they entered the neo-Renaissance building on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, bought tickets, wandered into the exhibition and smashed the armoured display case with 41 blows from a hammer they had hidden in their clothes. Snatching the necklace, valued at more than $4m, they made off on foot through the adjacent Stadtpark.
博物馆次日重新开放，事后才在入口处安装了金属探测器，而在窃徒逃离许久之后才加固了门锁。随后几周，霍莱因因安保松懈而受到批评。她今年春天的馆长任期刚刚被延长五年。10月2日，一项独立调查发现，MAK及其员工的行为是恰当的：如果有人试图制服窃徒，可能会危及自身以及当时在展厅内的104名参观者的安全。博物馆已部署185个摄像头、125个报警传感器、特种安全玻璃以及训练有素的警卫。然而，报告结论认为，此类由专业窃徒实施的盗窃无法通过合理措施予以防范。
The MAK reopened the next day, having belatedly installed metal detectors at the entrance, securing the doors long after the crooks had bolted. In subsequent weeks Ms Hollein, whose tenure as director had been extended by five years this spring, came under fire for lax security. On October 2nd an independent investigation found that the MAK and its staff behaved properly: had anyone tried to take on the thieves, they might have endangered themselves and the 104 visitors who were in the show. The museum had deployed 185 video cameras, 125 alarm sensors, special safety glass and trained guards. Yet the report concluded that such thefts by professionals cannot be prevented with reasonable measures.
这一说法令人费解。阻止歹徒进入博物馆并偷走艺术品绝非不可能。（如果早些时候有人想到安装金属探测器，就能发现窃徒藏在衣服里的锤子和手枪。）相反，看来威胁已经上升，而应对措施仍然不足。霍莱因表示，欧洲博物馆馆长们正面临一种新型的暴力且大胆的盗窃行为。这些抢劫往往是持续仅几分钟的“砸窃”式袭击。通常情况下，警方需要四到五分钟才能到达现场。全球博物馆和画廊因艺术品盗窃造成的损失估计每年高达80亿美元。
That claim seems bizarre. It cannot be impossible to stop hoods from walking into museums and nicking the art. (Had someone thought of metal detectors earlier, they would have spotted the thieves’ hammer and pistol.) Rather, it seems the threat has risen and the response remains inadequate. European museum directors, Ms Hollein says, are confronted with a new type of violent and brazen theft. The robberies are often smash-and-grab attacks that last just a few minutes. It usually takes four to five minutes for the police to arrive. Global losses from art theft for museums and galleries are estimated to amount to $8bn annually.
“艺术盗窃一直存在，”波士顿伊莎贝拉·斯图尔特·加德纳博物馆安全主管安东尼·阿莫尔说，该博物馆是自二战以来最臭名昭著的艺术盗窃案的发生地。（在那起1990年的案件中，13件价值约5亿美元的杰作被盗。）阿莫尔先生说，基本上世界上每家主要博物馆都曾被盗，尽管大多数盗窃案规模较小。但他指出，欧洲的高价值盗窃案有所增加，因为即使是小型省级博物馆也可能收藏一流艺术品。
“Art theft has always existed,” says Anthony Amore, head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the site of the most notorious art theft since the second world war. (In that crime in 1990, 13 masterpieces worth about $500m were stolen.) Essentially every major museum in the world has been robbed, says Mr Amore, though most thefts are small. But he notes an increase in high-value robberies in Europe, where one finds first-rate art even in small provincial museums.
许多欧洲馆藏陈列在难以防范的老旧建筑中。8月，小偷在西西里岛一个省城盗走了安东内洛·达·梅西纳的四件杰作，价值高达8000万欧元（8900万美元）。9月，两名入室盗窃者闯入法国康涅狄格-苏尔-梅尔的雷诺瓦博物馆，盗走了价值420万欧元的两幅画作。
Many European collections are displayed in old buildings that are tricky to secure. In August thieves stole four masterworks by Antonello da Messina, worth up to €80m ($89m), in a provincial town in Sicily. In September two burglars broke into the Renoir museum, in Cagnes-sur-Mer in France, and made off with two paintings valued at €4.2m.
像去年巴黎卢浮宫珠宝价值9000万欧元被盗这样的轰动性抢劫案，可能会形成恶性循环。荷兰艺术犯罪调查员阿瑟·布兰德说，小偷可能不再是猫贼，但许多是模仿者。卢浮宫被盗仅12小时后，法国东北部朗格尔的一家博物馆被盗走约2000枚金银币。小偷越来越专注于珠宝和金币，因为这些物品可以被拆解或熔化后出售。
Spectacular robberies, such as last year’s theft of jewellery worth €90m from the Louvre in Paris, can create a vicious circle. Thieves may not be cat burglars any more but many are copycats, says Arthur Brand, a Dutch art-crime investigator. Just 12 hours after the Louvre robbery, some 2,000 gold and silver coins were stolen from a museum in Langres in north-eastern France. Thieves increasingly focus on jewellery and gold coins, which can be dismantled or melted down for sale. (Renoirs or Rembrandts are almost impossible to sell, and are taken chiefly for ransom.)
（雷诺瓦或伦勃朗的作品几乎不可能出售，主要是为了赎金而被盗。）2017年，柏林博德博物馆的一枚重达100公斤的金币被臭名昭著的柏林犯罪家族雷莫家族成员盗走。2019年，该家族其他成员从德累斯顿的绿色穹顶博物馆盗走了一件含有超过4300颗钻石的18世纪珠宝，价值至少1.13亿欧元。
In 2017 a massive 100kg gold coin was stolen from Berlin’s Bode museum by members of the Remmo clan, a notorious Berlin crime family. In 2019 other clan members made off with 18th-century jewellery containing more than 4,300 diamonds from the Green Vault in Dresden, worth at least €113m.
只有大约10%的被盗艺术品最终会被找回。但绿顶穹顶珠宝在雷莫家族成员被捕并供认后大多被追回。而本月，六人因在卡涅-苏尔梅尔盗窃雷诺阿画作被捕，两幅画作被找回。法国警方利用DNA和手机数据追踪嫌疑人，并在其中一人前往另一座博物馆时将其逮捕——警方表示，这可能并非“仅仅出于对艺术的热爱”。
Only around 10% of stolen art is ever found. But most of the Green Vault jewellery was recovered after Remmo clan members were arrested and confessed. And this month six people were arrested for the theft of the Renoirs in Cagnes-sur-Mer; the two paintings were recovered. French police used DNA and mobile-phone data to track down the suspects, and arrested them when one visited another museum—probably, the police said, not “simply out of love for art”.
高科技解决方案，例如在遭到袭击时会通过地板下降的展示柜，成本高昂。但许多欧洲博物馆甚至没有金属探测器。很多博物馆没有自己的安全负责人；他们可能与其他几家博物馆共用一名安全负责人。策展人倾向于专注于筹款和高曝光展览，而在出现问题之前，较少关注防护措施。阿莫尔先生表示，他们需要发展多层防护体系，为警卫配备更好的通信系统，并与当地警方建立牢固关系。
High-tech solutions, such as display cases that drop through the floor when assaulted, are expensive. But few European museums even have metal detectors. Many do not have their own security chief; they may share one with several others. Curators tend to focus on fund-raising and high-profile exhibitions, and pay less attention to protective measures until something goes wrong. Mr Amore says they need to develop multiple layers of protection, equip guards with better communication systems and develop strong relationships with local police.
启用人工智能的安防摄像头可以提供更好的预警。但无法让博物馆完全安全。向公众展示艺术品总会使小偷有机会将其盗走。■
AI-enabled security cameras could deliver better warnings. But there is no way to render museums entirely safe. Displaying art to the public will always make it possible for a thief to grab it. ■