The PJ’s Cultural Heritage Investigation brigade is made up of six inspectors and a chief inspector. “Fortunately for the country, we don’t have many cases of robberies at museums”, says João Oliveira, remembering that the brigade’s scope extends to the theft of sacred art, forgery and robberies and thefts from private residences. The head of the PJ gives two examples of ongoing investigations: the theft, last summer, of two vases of high historical and pecuniary value belonging to the estate of the Monserrate palace, in Sintra, and the disappearance of a valuable tapestry from a museum in Portalegre. “These are pieces that will be of interest to people with great purchasing power, which will be traded on the black market, most likely to the currently classic circuits – Asia and Arabia.”
Some pieces disappear for decades and return by chance — in inheritances, customs inspections or belated confessions. Others reappear in disguise: repainted paintings, sculptures restored with minor changes, identities altered in the digital records of provenance. The border between the original and the copy also became a form of crime.
Works rarely appear at public auctions; They normally circulate through private circuits, go through intermediaries or are dismantled (in the case of jewelry). Bases such as the Art Loss Register and the cooperation of agencies (INTERPOL, national police) increase the chances of tracing, but long-term recovery is rare: many works simply disappear from the public domain.
The State insures itself
Portugal is not among the countries with the most museum thefts, but it shares the fragility of other States with vast heritage and the theft of the “Treasure of Senhora da Oliveira”, in Guimarães (1975), the disappearance of a painting from the National Museum of Ancient Art (1974) or the theft of jewels from the Royal Treasury during an exhibition in the Netherlands (2002) show that the risk exists and is not just internal.
In Lisbon, the director of the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA), Maria de Jesus Monge, is pragmatic. “Museums, like State buildings, are not insured”, he says, with the precision of someone stating an old rule. “It may seem strange at first, but that’s how it is. The State holds its own.”
The State is the guardian and sole guarantor of its assets. “Commercial insurance values would be unaffordable”, adds the director of the National Museum of Ancient Art. It’s like that in Portugal and in Europe. In museums dependent on central administration, pieces do not have commercial insurance. These are works without a network, entrusted to the physical security of the walls and the stability of a security system that is increasingly sophisticated.
Only when a piece leaves the museum — for restoration, loan or exhibition — is the insurance activated. So-called nail-by-nail insurance is provided: full coverage from the moment the work leaves “home” until it returns to its original location. Between the public museum and the world, this is the only secured border. In the event of an accident or repair, the process involves technicians from the institution itself and from the José de Figueiredo Laboratory, a body of the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC).
When the museum sends works for restoration, patronage comes into play. “We asked our patron, in this case Lusitânia”, explains Monge. “And when we receive external parts, we turn to the commercial market.”
The theme inevitably awakens memories of 2002, when jewels from the Portuguese royal treasury disappeared from a museum in The Hague, never recovered. The Dutch insurance company paid Portugal compensation, but the question remained open: what happens when the art, recovered years later, is recovered? “We entered into a negotiation process with the insurance company”, admits Monge, remembering that in this case the Portuguese State was compensated.
The dilemma is economic. There is no budget that can support permanent, annual insurance for works the value of the São Vicente de Fora Panels by Nuno Gonçalves, for example. No public budget would support a policy that covered your total loss. “We have to play on the safety of the museum, in compliance with the highest standards,” says Monge. It’s like that in Portugal, and it’s like that in most museums in Europe. “The logic of the State holding itself back is common.”
Portuguese legislation is demanding on security, defining a set of mechanical, physical and electronic means that guarantee prevention, surveillance and alarm. Each museum must have a security plan that is tested periodically, with clear risk prevention and neutralization protocols. The text of the law also describes what visitors rarely imagine: entry controls, limitations on the use of cameras and suitcases, metal detectors discreetly announced at reception. According to a basic rule: security, when done well, is almost invisible, but its absence is immediately visible.
Museums, according to the law, may refuse entry to visitors who bring objects of risk or of value incompatible with safe custody. They have in-person surveillance, reinforced by cameras and sensors. And, when the risk justifies it, they cooperate directly with the security forces, who have the duty to participate in the preparation of plans and approval of equipment.
The system is, therefore, a shared web: museums, police and private security. The museum is obliged to follow the recommendations of the authorities, and the duty of secrecy is absolute. Violation of confidentiality regarding security plans constitutes an infraction that extends to both internal personnel and contracted companies. In contracts with private security, the confidentiality clause is mandatory: there is no mention of what protects the art. Museum security, like art itself, lives between the visible and the invisible. The visitor sees the cameras, the ropes, the discreet guards. But what protects you is what you don’t see: the silent system, the protocol never revealed, the trust in technicians and the law.
Insurance companies: churches and jewelry are a problem
In private institutions, in the event of theft or robbery, the first actor to arrive on the scene is not the police — it is the insurance company. The EDP foundation, whose only robbery – a book stolen by a visitor – was nothing more than an episode quickly closed thanks to the clarity of the footage, in addition to insurance For this purpose against all risks for each exposure – and there is another, generic one, equally against all risks for all assets. The foundation works with Hiscox, a specialist in works of art. Headquartered in London, it operates across Europe and the United States.
DN spoke with Marta Rezende, responsible for Hiscox Portugal. “To insure any piece, it is necessary to carry out an individualized and personalized study, in order to design a policy adapted to the specific needs of each case, thus guaranteeing full coverage. For the policy to be valid and effective, the works must be stored or displayed in adequate safety and conservation conditions”, says Marta Rezende, who is clear: Hiscox does not insure works of art from Churches and avoids works of art of reduced size, with jewelry being the most problematic objects for insurers.
Insurers may require physical protection systems such as alarms, constant surveillance, specialized safes or environmental controls that prevent damage from moisture, light or temperature. In the case of temporary exhibitions or loans of works between institutions, it is equally essential that the transport, storage and handling of the pieces are carried out rigorously, with clear protocols and specialized supervision. Failure to take these measures may compromise the validity of the policy or limit coverage in the event of an accident.
There are determining factors in defining coverage and calculating insurance. The expert highlights some: “The biggest risks for works of art go far beyond simple theft. They also include vandalism, accidents during transport or exhibition, and damage caused by inadequate conservation conditions, such as humidity, dust, mold or direct sun exposure. Each work presents a different level of risk, depending on its type, fragility, historical or artistic value, frequency of transport and state of conservation. For example, a piece of jewelry or an extremely historic painting A valuable piece faces different risks than a large contemporary sculpture or digital work. Furthermore, works that circulate between museums or private collections have an increased risk due to handling and transportation.” There are cases in which the museum recovers the work, but is legally obliged to return the compensation amount. Others, in which the insurance company pays and then becomes the owner of the stolen work, if it is found.
Cases that remained in public memory
Mona Lisa, 1911 (Louvre, Paris). The classic episode: Vincenzo Peruggia, a former employee, hid in the museum, dismantled the painting from the frame and left in disguise. The theft turned the work into a global icon and exposed how familiarity with a place can be more dangerous than any technical break-in. It was recovered in 1913.