There are many legendary pages in the criminal annals of thefts of the greatest works of art of the 20th century. But, perhaps, it is difficult to find a more mystical story than the theft of paintings from the Irish estate Russborough, owned by Baronet Alfred Bate.
The uncle of the owner of the estate, a South African millionaire, began to collect the collection, which had such turbulent events. Having made a substantial fortune on diamonds, he decided to invest in works of art and began to buy old canvases around the world. The total cost of the collection in the early 1970s of the last century exceeded $ 100 million.
After the death of the millionaire, the entire inheritance, including the priceless collection, went to his nephew. When the first trailer with paintings came to the estate in 1973, the old butler, seeing that paintings in gilded frames were being brought into the house, turned white and moaned: “Sir, what are you doing! This is Russborough House. This is no place for pictures!"
The Baronet demanded an explanation. It turned out that one of the owners of the estate, the Earl of Milltown, had once commissioned a local artist to paint. The master worked day and night, but the client did not like the canvases. And the count, without paying a penny, ordered them to be burned. The unfortunate artist cursed both the count and the estate.
Since then, according to the butler, it was worth the owners to purchase a painting by some famous painter, how thieves got into the house, or there was a fire, and a valuable purchase turned into a mountain of ash.
Alfred Beit with his wife and guests in one of the halls with paintings
Promotional video:
The Baronet only laughed at the superstition. His collection is reliably protected by bars on the windows, the latest electronic alarm systems. In addition, she is insured by the world famous Lloyd company. But, as it turned out, he was laughing in vain.
On an April evening in 1974, the daughter of the owner of the insurance company came to visit the baronet and his wife and brought with her a bottle of collection cognac. The hosts did not really like this cheeky girl, but the laws of hospitality did not allow them to show the guest to the door.
Cognac was poured, the baronet and his wife drank a sip and … fell into blackness. And when Alfred Beit woke up, he saw how the robbers take out the priceless canvases. His attempts to "give voice" were fired by a machine gun fire, and the baronet preferred not to draw attention to himself anymore.
At that time, all 19 stolen masterpieces were found, and the girl was arrested. It turned out that the "friend's daughter" was associated with the IRA (Irish Republican Army), and it was her fighters who surrounded the estate. However, although she was in prison for 9 years, she never betrayed her accomplices.
Twelve years later, in May 1986, when the Beiths were in London, an alarm went off in the estate, with which the paintings were equipped. The police who arrived at the scene checked the collection, but found nothing suspicious.
The law enforcement officers left, but an hour later the siren sounded again. And again nothing criminal was found. When the alarm went off for the third time, the guard simply turned it off, thinking the system was out of order. And then … robbers came to the house, tied up the servants and stole 18 paintings.
Seven of them soon showed up. But 11 others were looking for several years. And when found, the baronet, who finally believed in the curse, donated 17 of the most valuable paintings from the collection of the Irish National Gallery.
It remains to add that the collection was stolen two more times. In 2001, robbers in broad daylight destroyed the wall of the house with a truck and, in front of the stunned owners and servants, took out the paintings.
The last theft took place in 2002. Thereafter, Lady Beith (Alfred died in the late 1990s) chose to transfer the remains of the collection to the same national gallery.
