Friday, December 6, 12 – 1pm
Roman. Marble head from a herm, 1st–2nd century. Marble. Rogers Fund, 1913. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Free; registration required.
About the Talk
John Barelli: “Art Theft: A Theft of Opportunity”
On-Site & Online Talk | Member Appreciation Days
In this talk, retired Metropolitan Museum of Art security officer John Barelli will analyze three real-life cases of art theft. He'll share the stories behind a Greek sculpture taken from the Met in 1979, early Christian jewelry and rare Celtic gold coins stolen from the museum in 1981, and two 17th-century tapestries taken from the NYU Institute of Fine Arts in 1982. Barelli wrote about his experiences at the Met in Stealing the Show: A History of Art and Crime in Six Thefts (2019), which details the investigative techniques that he and his team leveraged in successful recoveries and arrests.
Speaker
John Barelli
Barelli is the former chief security officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. For more than 30 years, he oversaw a department recognized as a leader in protecting and recovering priceless works of art. Barelli has also conducted security surveys for cultural institutions around the world, including the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York; the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha; and the Louvre, Paris.
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