ABOVE: Detail from Da Vinci’s Madonna of the Yarnwinder (1501), which the FBI has placed on its “most wanted” list for stolen art worldwide.

The FBI yesterday made public its list of the “Top Ten Art Crimes” and encouraged the public to be on the lookout for a large list of paintings which they want to recover. It’s not a list of the top ten items they’re looking for, it’s a list of the thefts themselves: the top art crime that the FBI lists is the theft of artifacts from the Iraqi national museum in 2003, and that crime alone saw 7,000 to 10,000 pieces go missing. The number two spot is held by the theft of 12 paintings worth a total of $300 million from the Isabella Stewart Garnder Museum in 1990.

Rounding out the rest of the list are: a Cellini salt cellar, a Stradivarius violin, The Scream, and a smattering of Van Goghs, a Caravaggio, a Cezannes, and a Da Vinci. The FBI lists some phone numbers and websites in case you—yes, you, dear reader—know something about the whereabouts of these things. What with the current preoccupation with the security of the homeland and everything these days, it’s nice to see that the FBI still remembers its little art theft unit and wants to publicize it more.

LINK: CNN > Leonardo, Cezanne among FBI’s most wanted

PS - sorry about missing a post yesterday, we’re really, really sorry, and we won’t ever do it again. Until next time.