Description
Book SynopsisThis book tells the previously untold stories of six major art thefts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, written by its former Chief Security Officer, John Barelli. Reader will be taken into the loading docks and curatorial offices, to the Temple of Dendur and the American Wing and its magnificent Engelhard Courtyard, the majestic Main Hall where the author stood opening many mornings as the world poured in, the Astor Courtyard and the Valez Blanco Patio. In the museum's Arms and Armor department the author will point out that museum staff helped create the helmets that our soldiers used in World War, he'll share with readers what happen to the coins in the museum's fountains. At the heart of this book there will always be artthose who love it and those who take it, two groups of people that are far from mutually exclusive.
Trade Review“The theft and sometime recovery of a work of art holds a fascination for many that John Barelli fully satisfies in these absorbing pages born of a long career studying the subject and putting it into practice at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”. Philippe de Montebello Director Emeritus, the Metropolitan Museum of Art John Barelli made us feel totally secure at the Met for more than a quarter of a century—and now he tells us exactly how he handled threats, thefts, and the challenges of keeping art and visitors safe in the post-9/11 world. Like the great treasures he protected, this is a masterpiece of a memoir. Harold Holzer Author, winner of the National Humanities Medal, and former senior Vice President for External Affairs at the Met Museum
