If the stolen artwork ever returns to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, restored frames will be ready for them.

Ahead of the 35th anniversary of the infamous theft in the hours after St. Patrick’s Day, museum officials this week hung the recently restored frame for Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee.”

That irreplaceable work of art was one of several pieces that were stolen from the Dutch Room — four paintings and one etching were removed from their frames in the Dutch Room. All five frames in that room have been restored as part of current gallery restoration.

“As conservators, we care for the entire collection, but obviously these frames hold a deeper meaning for us,” Holly Salmon, the John L. and Susan K. Gardner director of conservation, told the Herald.

“With the frames being restored and the room being restored, it allows us to present the best space possible in anticipation of the eventual return of those works of art,” Salmon said, adding, “We’re always hopeful for their return.”

Empty frames remain hanging in the museum as a placeholder for the missing works, and as symbols of hope awaiting their return.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633, oil on canvas. This painting was stolen from the Dutch Room. (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum credit)

Meanwhile, Gardner Luminary Skooby Laposky has created an interpretive sound activation for the “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” which visitors can experience this Monday and Wednesday. The museum is closed Tuesdays, so the museum will not be open on the March 18 anniversary of the theft.

As visitors approach the newly restored frame on Monday and Wednesday, they’ll hear lapping waves and the calls of birds native to the Sea of Galilee. When they move in relation to the frame, the sound transitions to the thunder and howling winds of a violent storm.

“It’s beautifully done,” Salmon said. “It’s as if you’re hearing what you should be seeing… It’s the closest experience I’ve had to what it would be like to look at the painting.”

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The 1990 theft of 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s collection remains unsolved.

The museum, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s office are still seeking viable leads that could result in the safe return of the art.

The museum is offering a $10 million dollar reward for information leading directly to the safe return of the stolen works. A share of the reward would be given in exchange for information leading to the restitution of any portion of the works.

A separate reward of $100,000 is being offered for the return of the Napoleonic eagle finial.

Anyone with information about the stolen artworks should contact Museum Director of Security Anthony Amore at 617-278-5114 or reward@gardnermuseum.org. Confidentiality is assured.

Anthony Amore, the museum’s director of security, continues to investigate the infamous theft from 1990. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)