The Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon, where the French Crown Jewels were displayed
On Sunday, October 19th, a group of men executed a heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing a collection of jewelry estimated to be worth €88 million (or $102 million).
While the popular imagination makes it seem like heists require absolute geniuses to pull off, the robbery at the Louvre on Sunday was relatively straightforward. At about 9:30 in the morning, roughly half an hour after the museum opened to visitors, a team of four men wearing reflective vests drove a truck up to the balcony of the Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon, extending a ladder from the truck’s bed. This sort of ladder device is known as a monte-meuble in French, and is commonly used in Paris to move furniture and other large objects in and out of the windows of the upper stories of buildings. The team broke in and stole several items from display cases. Security alarms had been sounded, but the thieves used the saws and other tools they had brought to fend off the guards who arrived at the scene. The team descended the ladder, ditching the truck to escape on scooters. The entire heist lasted about 4 minutes. In the midst of their escape, the robbers dropped one of the items they stole, the Crown of Empress Eugénie. The museum was immediately evacuated and closed, finally reopening on Wednesday. Several other museum robberies have occurred in France recently. Last month, someone stole €600,000 worth of gold nuggets from the Natural History Museum, while €9.5 million worth of antique Chinese porcelain was taken from the Adrien Dubouché Institute in Limoges. Shortly after the Louvre heist, many believed that these incidents were related, possibly committed by the same people. However, a Chinese woman was arrested in Barcelona on Tuesday after being caught trying to dispose of some of the stolen gold.
France’s Ministry of Culture listed the items taken from the Louvre: a tiara, necklace, and one of two earrings from a set owned by Queen Maria Amalia, wife of King Louis Philippe I. These jewels, mainly diamonds and sapphires, were previously owned by Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s stepdaughter and sister-in-law. There was also a necklace and a pair of earrings made from diamonds and emeralds worn by Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon’s second wife. And finally, there was a bow brooch, a reliquary brooch, and a tiara owned by Empress Eugénie, wife of the Emperor Napoleon III. The most valuable item in the collection, however, was left untouched. The Regent Diamond is a 140-carat diamond that was part of the crowns of five different French monarchs. Napoleon had it fitted on the guard of his sword, as seen in several portraits, including those by Ingres and Gros. Today, it is estimated to be worth about $60 million.
Many specialists have commented that the thieves will not try to sell these jewels in their current state. The necklaces, brooches, and other items are very recognizable, and the heist has been widely publicized, making them impossible to sell as they are. Most likely, the robbers will break the pieces down and sell them for parts. To do that, they will need to remove every gemstone from the stolen pieces. However, it would still be difficult to sell the gems individually since they can still be recognized. This means that the diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires will need to be re-cut. They will be less valuable than before, since they will likely be sold based on their value by weight. However, this will still amount to a significant sum of money. The metals will also be melted down and sold off. The only elements from the stolen pieces that cannot be altered are the pearls from the tiara, of which there are 212. Since they cannot be re-cut like the gemstones, they can be tracked down. However, there is a slim chance that some of the items will be recovered unharmed. Some publications have cited the 2019 Dresden Green Vault heist as proof that the stolen pieces may be found. Many of the items stolen in that incident were recovered in 2022. Some optimists think that this team may have been hired by a private collector who does not want the items broken down, but rather kept in their original condition.
The heist on Sunday was the first successful robbery from the Louvre since 1998, when the Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot painting Le chemin de Sèvres was stolen in May of that year. But given the state of the museum’s security, it’s surprising that it took this long. The museum’s overall condition is cause for concern, as the world’s most visited museum has faced extensive problems for years. The former palace can only accommodate around 4 million visitors per year, yet it often welcomes more than double that. In 2023, the Louvre put a cap on daily visitors to control the stress placed on the building. Leaks of rainwater have come close to works on display in the galleries. Louvre staff have gone on strike more than once to call attention to the poor state of the museum. And finally, earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the Louvre would undergo extensive renovations, which some say might cost as much as €800 million.
This latest incident underscores the urgent need for enhanced security measures at the Louvre. On the Wednesday following the heist, Laurence des Cars, the Louvre’s director, appeared before the French Parliament to answer questions from legislators, hopefully paving the way for a more secure future for the museum. Two individuals have already been arrested in relation to the theft, which may lead to more of the culprits being apprehended and the possible recovery of the stolen items.