•
Rhodes earthquake, 226 BCE •
First Mithridatic War, 89-85 BCE •
Sack of Athens, 1 March 86 BCE •
Antikythera shipwreck,
86-50 BCE •
Great Fire of Rome, 64 CE •
Lauseion fire, 475 •
Nika riots, 13 January 532- •
Byzantine Iconoclasm •
Iconoclasm of Leo III, 726-741 • Second Byzantine Iconoclasm, 814-842 •
Jin–Song wars, 1125–1234 •
Jingkang Incident (Sack of Kaifeng), 10 January 1126- •
Fourth Crusade, 1202–1204 •
Sack of Constantinople, 12–15 April 1204 •
Bonfire of the vanities, 1492–1497 • Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 1492 • Bonfire of the vanities, Florence, 7 February 1497 •
Palazzo Bentivoglio destruction, 1507 •
Iconoclastic Fury, 1522–1599 • Beeldenstorm, 1566 • "Stille beeldenstorm" of Antwerp, 1581 •
Doge's Palace fire, 1576 •
El Pardo Palace fire, 1604 •
Russo-Swedish Deluge 1648-1667 •
Destruction of the Commonwealth •
Bombardment of Brussels, 13–15 August 1695 •
Brussels Town Hall fire, 13–15 August 1695 •
Palace of Whitehall fire, 4 January 1698 •
André-Charles Boulle workshop fire, 30 August 1720 •
Coudenberg Palace fire, 3 February 1731 •
Royal Alcázar of Madrid fire, 24 December 1734 •
Kroměříž Palace fire, March 1752 •
Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, 1 November 1755 •
Ribeira Palace destruction •
Vrouw Maria sinking, 9 October 1771 •
French Revolution, 1789–1799 •
Napoleonic looting of art, 1794-1814 •
Exton Old Park fire, 1810 •
Belvoir Castle fire, 1816 •
Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura fire, 1823 •
Burning of Parliament, 16 October 1834 •
Palais-Royal looting, 21–22 February 1848 •
Old Summer Palace destruction, 18–21 October 1861 •
Museum Boymans fire, 1864 •
Paris Commune, 18 March-28 May 1871 •
Hôtel de Ville fire, May 1871 •
Tuileries Palace fire, 23 May 1871 •
Holker Hall fire, 1871 •
Great Boston Fire of 1872 •
Bath House fire, 31 January 1873 •
Pantechnicon warehouse fire, London, 13–14 February 1874 •
Benin City sacking, 9 February 1897 •
San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906 •
Messina Earthquake, 28 December 1908 •
Mona Lisa theft and vandalism, 21 August 1911 •
World War I, 28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918 •
Russian Revolution and post-revolution losses, 1917-1920s • Treasures for Tractors, 1920s •
Thames flood (Tate Gallery flood), 7 January 1928 •
Glaspalast fire, 6 June 1931 •
Nazi plunder, 1933–1945 •
Berlin Fire Department art burning, 20 March 1939 •
Frey seizures (1939-1942) •
Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce seizures, 1940–1945 •
Mühlmann Agency seizures, 1939–1945 •
World War II looting of Poland, 1939–1945 •
Ghent Altarpiece panels theft, 10 April 1934 •
Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 •
World War II, 1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945 •
Gosford House fire, 1940 •
Castle Howard fire, 9 November 1940 •
The Blitz, 7 September 1940 – 21 May 1941 •
Bridgewater House bombing, 11 May 1941 •
Bombardment of Manila, December 1941 •
Bombing of Bremen, 1942 • Palazzo Archinto (Milan) bombing, 1943 •
Battle of Monte Cassino, 17 January – 18 May 1944 •
Ovetari Chapel bombing, 11 March 1944 •
Destruction of Warsaw, 1944–45 •
Royal Castle, Warsaw explosion •
Bombing of Dresden, February 1945 •
Battle of Manila, 3 February – 3 March 1945 •
Schloss Immendorf fire, May 1945 •
Friedrichshain flak tower fire, May 1945 • Ashiya District air raids, 5–6 August 1945 •
Quedlinburg medieval art theft, 19 April – June 1945 •
Soviet looting, 1939–1945 •
Kronberg Castle looting, 5 November 1945 •
Arno Breker Sculpture Destruction, 1945- •
Arshile Gorky studio fire, 1946 •
Alfred Stieglitz Gallery theft, 1946 •
Musée de Beaux Arts de Strasbourg fire, 13 August 1947 •
Coleshill House fire, 1952 •
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fire, 15 August 1958 •
American Airlines Flight 1 plane crash, 1962 •
Dulwich College Picture Gallery theft, 30 December 1966 •
Izmir Archaeology Museum theft, 24 July 1969 •
Oratory of San Lorenzo theft, October 1969 •
Stephen Hahn Gallery theft, 17 November 1969 •
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts robbery, 4 September 1972 • Musée Albert-André, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, theft, 12 November 1972 •
Invasion of Cyprus church thefts, 1974 •
Russborough House art theft #1, 1974 •
Palais des Papes Picasso theft, 31 January 1976 •
Corridart installation destruction, Montreal, 1976 •
Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro fire, 8 July 1978 •
Varig plane disappearance, 30 January 1979 •
L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art theft, 15 April 1983 •
Kunsthaus Zürich incendiary attack, 1985 •
Huntington Library fire, 17 October 1985 •
Musée Marmottan Monet theft, 28 October 1985 •
Russborough House art theft #2, 1986 •
Neue Nationalgalerie theft, 27 May 1988 •
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, 18 March 1990 •
Lincoln's Inn theft, 16 September 1990 •
Houghton Hall theft, 30 September 1992 •
Windsor Castle fire, 20 November 1992 •
Uffizi car bombing, 1993 •
Moderna Museet theft, 8 November 1993 •
The Scream theft, 12 February 1994 •
Kunsthalle Schirn theft (Frankfurt art theft), 28 July 1994 •
Stéphane Breitwieser: 172 museum thefts, 1995–2001 •
Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci Oddi theft, 18 February 1997 •
Louvre theft, 3 May 1998 •
Swissair Flight 111 plane crash, 2 September 1998 •
Ashmolean Museum theft, 31 December 1999 •
Nationalmuseum theft, 22 Dec 2000 •
Russborough House art theft #3, 2001 •
National Museum, Poznań theft, September 2000 •
Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art theft, 2000–2002 •
Taliban iconoclasm, March 2001 •
Hermitage Museum theft, 22 March 2001 •
September 11 attacks, 2001 •
Marielle Schwengel's destruction of stolen art, November 2001 •
Frans Hals Museum theft, 25 March 2002 • Edenhurst Gallery theft, 28 July 2002 •
Russborough House art theft #4, September 2002 •
Van Gogh Museum theft, 8 December 2002 •
2003 Iraq War •
National Museum of Iraq thefts, 8–12 April 2003 •
Kunsthistorisches Museum theft, 11 May 2003 •
Drumlanrig Castle theft, 27 August 2003 •
Momart fire, 24 May 2004 •
Santo Spirito in Sassia Hospital theft, 31 July 2004 •
Munch Museum theft, 22 August 2004 • Neumann Foundation theft, 27 October 2004 •
Victoria & Albert Museum theft, 29 December 2004 •
Westfries Museum theft, 9 January 2005 •
Henry Moore Foundation theft, 15 December 2005 •
Strindberg Museum theft, 15 February 2006 • Museu da Chácara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro theft, 24 February 2006 •
São Paulo Museum of Art theft, 20 December 2007 •
Foundation E.G. Bührle theft, 10 February 2008 •
Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo theft, 12 June 2008 •
Hélio Oiticica fire, 16 October 2009 •
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris theft, 10 May 2010 •
Dulwich Park theft, 20 December 2011 •
Kunsthal Art theft, 16 October 2012 •
Clandon House fire, 29 April 2015 •
National Museum of Brazil fire, 2 September 2018 •
Christ Church Picture Gallery theft, 14 March 2020 •
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine •
Ivankiv Historical and Local History Museum destruction, February 2022 •
2025 Louvre theft, 19 October 2025 • Destruction and looting of the
National Museum of Sudan, between June 2023 and March 2025 == List of notable missing artworks ==