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Stéphane Breitwieser (born 1 October 1971) is a Frenchman notorious for his art thefts between 1995 and 2001. He admitted to stealing 239 artworks and other exhibits, worth an estimated US$1.4 billion (£960m), from 172 museums while travelling around Europe and working as a waiter, an average of one theft every 15 days.〔BBC, (''Art hoard worth $1.4bn destroyed'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 ''The Guardian'' called him "arguably the world's most consistent art thief."〔''The Guardian'', (''Priceless art haul destroyed by thief's mother'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 He differs from most other art thieves in that he did not steal for any profit motive.〔''The Guardian'', (''Connoisseur Turned Crook Who Plundered Europe's Galleries for the Simple Love of Art'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 He was a self-described art connoisseur who stole in order to build a vast personal collection, particularly of 16th and 17th century masters. At his trial, the magistrate quoted him as saying, "I enjoy art. I love such works of art. I collected them and kept them at home." Despite the immensity of his collection, he was still able to recall every piece he stole. He interrupted the lengthy reading of his collection during his trial several times to correct various details.〔 ==Thefts== His first theft came in March 1995 during a visit to the medieval castle at Bonn, Germany, with his then-girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklauss. He became entranced with a small painting by Christian Wilhelm Dietrich, later saying, "I was fascinated by her beauty, by the qualities of the woman in the portrait and by her eyes. I thought it was an imitation of Rembrandt." With his girlfriend keeping watch, he worked out the nails holding the painting in its frame and slipped it under his jacket. In July 1995, he took an ancient crossbow in his first theft from a museum.〔''The Times'', (''The artful dodgers'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 He would use similar methods for at least 170 other museums for his thefts in the ensuing years.〔ABC, (''Suicidal art thief gets 26 months'' ). Consulted on August 15, 2007.〕 He would visit small collections and regional museums, where security was lax,〔 and Kleinklauss would serve as his lookout as he cut the paintings from their frames,〔 and in an estimated 60% of his thefts, she acted as a loud decoy while he pulled off the heist, directing guards' attention away from closed-circuit television or cameras.〔 The most valuable work of art he stole was ''Sybille, Princess of Cleves'' by Lucas Cranach the Elder from a castle in Baden-Baden in 1995. Its estimated value at auction would be £5-£5.6 million.〔 He cut it from its frame at a Sotheby's auction where it was to be sold.〔 Although he amassed such a large collection of art, he never attempted to sell any of it for profit, instead enjoying thinking about how he was "the wealthiest man in Europe."〔 It was all kept in his bedroom in his mother's house in Mulhouse, France. His room was kept in semi-darkness so the sunlight would not fade the paintings.〔 A local framer did not recognize the art which he would re-frame for Nikolaus as being some of Europe's masterpieces.〔 His mother, Marielle Schwengel, did not at first realize that the works were stolen and thought they were legitimately bought at auction, but then later suspected that he had not bought them legitimately.〔 Breitwieser often spent time with his large collection. When he discovered that one painting he had stolen was a fake, he accused van der Helst of taking it from him. He burnt it.〔 Around 110 pieces from his collection have been recovered, leaving another 60 unaccounted for, presumed destroyed. His collection included: ( * for those that are presumed destroyed, * * for those that are known to be destroyed) * Pieter Brueghel the Younger - ''Cheat Profiting From His Master'' * *, cut with scissors * Antoine Watteau - ''Two Men'' * * François Boucher - ''Sleeping Shepherd'' * *, which Breitwieser kept by his pillow and his mother put in the garbage disposal〔 * Corneille de Lyon - ''Madeleine of France, Queen of Scotland'' * *, garbage disposal * David Teniers - ''The Monkey's Ball'' * *, shredded with scissors Breitwieser and Kleinklauss were first caught in 1997, when they walked off with a William van Aelst landscape from a private collection in a gallery, which they were allowed to see with special permission from the owner. Alerted to the theft, the owner ran out and recognized the two as they got into Breitwieser's mother's car. Another artifact was found in the car. Because it was his first offense on Swiss soil, he was given only an eight-month suspended sentence and banned from entering Switzerland until May 2000. However, his job was across the border from France in Switzerland, and he continued working under his mother's maiden name. He also continued his thefts, even returning to museums of prior crimes to steal again.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stéphane Breitwieser」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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