Lost artworks

Lost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources or material evidence indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections, as well as works known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.

Research and recovery efforts

The Art Loss Register is a commercial computerized international database which captures information about lost and stolen art, antiques and collectables. It is operated by a commercial company based in London.

In the U.S., the FBI maintains the National Stolen Art File, "a database of stolen art and cultural property. Stolen objects are submitted for entry to the NSAF by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad."

A number of search and recovery efforts were created in response to major loss events, notably: Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program ("Monuments Men"), 1943–1946 Bureau of Revindication and Damages (Poland), operated from 1945 to 1951 Bureau of the Government Representative for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, 1991-

Chronology of notable loss events

Rhodes earthquake, 226 BCE First Mithridatic War, 89-85 BCE Sack of Athens, 1 March 86 BCE Antikythera shipwreck, 86-50 BCE Great Fire of Rome, 64 CE Lauseion fire, 475 Nika riots, 13 January 532- Byzantine Iconoclasm Iconoclasm of Leo III, 726-741 Second Byzantine Iconoclasm, 814-842 Jin–Song wars, 1125–1234 Jingkang Incident (Sack of Kaifeng), 10 January 1126- Fourth Crusade, 1202–1204 Sack of Constantinople, 12–15 April 1204 Bonfire of the vanities, 1492–1497 Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 1492 Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 7 February 1497 Palazzo Bentivoglio destruction, 1507 Iconoclastic Fury, 1522–1599 Beeldenstorm, 1566 "Stille beeldenstorm" of Antwerp, 1581 Doge's Palace fire, 1576 El Pardo Palace fire, 1604 Russo-Swedish Deluge 1648-1667 Destruction of the Commonwealth Bombardment of Brussels, 13–15 August 1695 Brussels Town Hall fire, 13–15 August 1695 Palace of Whitehall fire, 4 January 1698 André-Charles Boulle workshop fire, 30 August 1720 Coudenberg Palace fire, 3 February 1731 Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire, 24 December 1734 Kroměříž Palace fire, March 1752 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, 1 November 1755 Ribeira Palace destruction Vrouw Maria sinking, 9 October 1771 French Revolution, 1789–1799 Napoleonic looting of art, 1794-1814 Exton Old Park fire, 1810 Belvoir Castle fire, 1816 Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura fire, 1823 Burning of Parliament, 16 October 1834 Palais-Royal looting, 21–22 February 1848 Old Summer Palace destruction, 18–21 October 1861 Museum Boymans fire, 1864 Paris Commune, 18 March-28 May 1871 Hôtel de Ville fire, May 1871 Tuileries Palace fire, 23 May 1871 Holker Hall fire, 1871 Great Boston Fire of 1872 Bath House fire, 31 January 1873 Pantechnicon warehouse fire, London, 13–14 February 1874 Benin City sacking, 9 February 1897 San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906 Messina Earthquake, 28 December 1908 Mona Lisa theft and vandalism, 21 August 1911 World War I, 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918 Russian Revolution and post-revolution losses, 1917-1920s Treasures for Tractors, 1920s Thames flood (Tate Gallery flood), 7 January 1928 Glaspalast fire, 6 June 1931 Nazi plunder, 1933–1945 Berlin Fire Department art burning, 20 March 1939 Frey seizures (1939-1942) Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce seizures, 1940–1945 Mühlmann Agency seizures, 1939–1945 World War II looting of Poland, 1939–1945 Ghent Altarpiece panels theft, 10 April 1934 Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 World War II, 1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945 Gosford House fire, 1940 Castle Howard fire, 9 November 1940 The Blitz, 7 September 1940 – 21 May 1941 Bridgewater House bombing, 11 May 1941 Bombardment of Manila, December 1941 Bombing of Bremen, 1942 Palazzo Archinto (Milan) bombing, 1943 Battle of Monte Cassino, 17 January – 18 May 1944 Ovetari Chapel bombing, 11 March 1944 Destruction of Warsaw, 1944–45 Royal Castle, Warsaw explosion Bombing of Dresden, February 1945 Battle of Manila, 3 February – 3 March 1945 Schloss Immendorf fire, May 1945 Friedrichshain flak tower fire, May 1945 Ashiya District air raids, 5–6 August 1945 Quedlinburg medieval art theft, 19 April – June 1945 Soviet looting, 1939–1945 Kronberg Castle looting, 5 November 1945 Arno Breker Sculpture Destruction, 1945- Arshile Gorky studio fire, 1946 Alfred Stieglitz Gallery theft, 1946 Musée de Beaux Arts de Strasbourg fire, 13 August 1947 Coleshill House fire, 1952 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fire, 15 August 1958 American Airlines Flight 1 plane crash, 1962 Dulwich College Picture Gallery theft, 30 December 1966 Izmir Archaeology Museum theft, 24 July 1969 Oratory of San Lorenzo theft, October 1969 Stephen Hahn Gallery theft, 17 November 1969 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts robbery, 4 September 1972 Musée Albert-André, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, theft, 12 November 1972 Invasion of Cyprus church thefts, 1974 Russborough House art theft #1, 1974 Palais des Papes Picasso theft, 31 January 1976 Corridart installation destruction, Montreal, 1976 Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro fire, 8 July 1978 Varig plane disappearance, 30 January 1979 L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art theft, 15 April 1983 Kunsthaus Zürich incendiary attack, 1985 Huntington Library fire, 17 October 1985 Musée Marmottan Monet theft, 28 October 1985 Russborough House art theft #2, 1986 Neue Nationalgalerie theft, 27 May 1988 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, 18 March 1990 Lincoln's Inn theft, 16 September 1990 Houghton Hall theft, 30 September 1992 Windsor Castle fire, 20 November 1992 Uffizi car bombing, 1993 Moderna Museet theft, 8 November 1993 The Scream theft, 12 February 1994 Kunsthalle Schirn theft (Frankfurt art theft), 28 July 1994 Stéphane Breitwieser: 172 museum thefts, 1995–2001 Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi theft, 18 February 1997 Louvre theft, 3 May 1998 Swissair Flight 111 plane crash, 2 September 1998 Ashmolean Museum theft, 31 December 1999 Nationalmuseum theft, 22 Dec 2000 Russborough House art theft #3, 2001 National Museum, Poznań theft, September 2000 Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art theft, 2000–2002 Taliban iconoclasm, March 2001 Hermitage Museum theft, 22 March 2001 September 11 attacks, 2001 Marielle Schwengel's destruction of stolen art, November 2001 Frans Hals Museum theft, 25 March 2002 Edenhurst Gallery theft, 28 July 2002 Russborough House art theft #4, September 2002 Van Gogh Museum theft, 8 December 2002 2003 Iraq War National Museum of Iraq thefts, 8–12 April 2003 Kunsthistorisches Museum theft, 11 May 2003 Drumlanrig Castle theft, 27 August 2003 Momart fire, 24 May 2004 Santo Spirito in Sassia Hospital theft, 31 July 2004 Munch Museum theft, 22 August 2004 Neumann Foundation theft, 27 October 2004 Victoria & Albert Museum theft, 29 December 2004 Westfries Museum theft, 9 January 2005 Henry Moore Foundation theft, 15 December 2005 Strindberg Museum theft, 15 February 2006 Museu da Chácara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro theft, 24 February 2006 São Paulo Museum of Art theft, 20 December 2007 Foundation E.G. Bührle theft, 10 February 2008 Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo theft, 12 June 2008 Hélio Oiticica fire, 16 October 2009 Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris theft, 10 May 2010 Dulwich Park theft, 20 December 2011 Kunsthal Art theft, 16 October 2012 Clandon House fire, 29 April 2015 National Museum of Brazil fire, 2 September 2018 Christ Church Picture Gallery theft, 14 March 2020 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum destruction, February 2022 2025 Louvre theft, 19 October 2025 National Museum of Sudan destruction, June 2023 to March 2025

List of notable missing artworks

This section lists articles or article sections on lost works.