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The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, was closed suddenly on Sunday after a break-in at its Apollon gallery, the home of the French crown jewels – part of a daring daylight heist in which priceless Napoleonic jewels stolen.
As French police hunt the thieves who stole eight pieces of jewellery, questions are being asked about how they did it and who would be in the market for such items, including a necklace Napoleon gave to his wife.
How did thieves break into the Louvre?
In a highly professional raid, four balaclava-wearing thieves pulled up outside the Louvre on a road along the Seine River. At about 9.30am – half an hour after visitors began entering the front of the museum – the thieves were at the south side of the building, in a truck with a basket lift and an extendable ladder, rising to a second-floor balcony window.
Here, they broke in using an angle grinder and other power tools, authorities said.
They smashed glass displays, grabbing the jewellery, but as alarms rang out in the museum alerting guards, the robbers quickly left, escaping on motorbikes.
The entire heist lasted less than 10 minutes, according to the French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, who said it was the work of “an experienced team who had clearly scouted the location”.
What was stolen from the Louvre, and what was left behind?
The French culture ministry said eight pieces were stolen – but not the hugely valuable crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, which the thieves dropped on their way out. They also missed the Regent diamond, valued by Sotheby’s at more than US$60m (£45m).
The other stolen pieces include a tiara, earrings and a sapphire necklace from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, and pieces of jewellery from the Marie-Louise set.
They were housed in the Apollon gallery, built in 1661 by Louis XIV. The hall, full of gold leaf and paintings, would be the model for the Palace of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors.
What’s the reaction so far?
The heist instantly spilled into politics. The far-right leader Jordan Bardella used it to attack President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing a fractured parliament.
“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture,” Bardella wrote on X. “This robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?”
Macron said France would “recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice … The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history”.
Nuñez called it a “major robbery”, noting that security measures at the Louvre had been strengthened in recent years, and would be reinforced further as part of a multimillion-euro overhaul of the museum.
Security around marquee works remains tight – the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case – but Sunday’s theft also underscored that protections were not uniformly as robust across the Louvre’s more than 33,000 objects. The incident is another embarrassment for a museum already under scrutiny.
A Louvre visitor, Magali Cunel, a French teacher from near Lyon, expressed what many were thinking: “How can they ride a lift to a window and take jewels in the middle of the day? It’s just unbelievable that a museum this famous can have such obvious security gaps.”
Has this happened before?
The Louvre has a long history of thefts, possibly the greatest being by an Italian decorator who briefly worked there and stole the Mona Lisa in 1911. Vincenzo Peruggia entered the museum dressed as a museum worker. When no one was looking, he removed the painting and sneaked out. He was later arrested and the painting recovered.
Another notorious episode came in 1956, when a visitor hurled a stone at Mona Lisa’s smile, chipping paint near her left elbow and hastening the move to display the work behind protective glass.
