Once upon a time I heard that “The Met” has an enormous vault deep underground where it stores its artwork that isn’t on display. According to this person that told me, the things that are on display make up a very small percentage of the whole collection and that the vault is so secure the items could survive an atomic blast.
Is any of that true?
Second question, once upon another time I heard about a movie that was supposedly based on a true story of a thief(ves) that stole a painting from the Met while it was on display. The movie is about the whole scheme and such. Is there such a movie or did I dream it up?
Is the movie you’re talking about “The Thomas Crown Affair”? I don’t think it was based on a true story, and I’m not positive it was set at the Met, but it’s the only art heist movie I know of.
“The Thomas Crown Affair” with Pierce Brosnan makes a point of explicitly stating in its credits that neither the museum nor the security precautions are based on any real museum or its security precautions.
I know because when I watched it I thought, “Hmm, I wonder if the museum is based on the Met” and decided to check the credits.
Having said that, I’m not completely convinced that the museum in the movie isn’t supposed to make one think of the Met, though I can understand a reluctance to share specifics of the security precautions with filmmakers and thus audiences worldwide.
Actually at the Met, they have a large room where some of the items not on display are displayed.
If that makes any sense. They have items in rather plain, glass enclosed shelves. There are no little scripts for you to read, but you can look at them. There is even more in storage. The Met is a pretty substantial building. Depending on what you mean by atomic blast, (actualy size and placement of the explosion) it would probably be standing in some scenarios.