{"id":2108411,"date":"2025-10-22T15:21:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2108411"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:21:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:21:18","slug":"the-louvre-reopens-3-days-after-one-of-the-biggest-museum-heists-of-the-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-louvre-reopens-3-days-after-one-of-the-biggest-museum-heists-of-the-century\/","title":{"rendered":"The Louvre reopens 3 days after one of the biggest museum heists of the century"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Louvre reopened on Wednesday to long lines beneath its landmark Paris glass pyramid, just three days after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.<\/p>\n

The thieves slipped in and out, making off with eight pieces from France\u2019s Crown Jewels at the world\u2019s most-visited museum \u2014 a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019.<\/p>\n

The Sunday raid \u2014 steps from the Mona Lisa and valued at over $100 million \u2014 has put embattled President Emmanuel Macron, Louvre chief Laurence des Cars and others under fresh scrutiny. It comes just months after employees went on strike, warning of chronic understaffing and underresourced protections, with too few eyes on too many rooms.<\/p>\n

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Crowds bunched at the barriers as they were being removed Wednesday, a coda to frantic forensic work and staff briefings that had taken place. Inside, the scene of the crime \u2014 the Apollo Gallery housing the Crown Diamonds \u2014 stayed sealed, a folding screen obscuring the doorway at the gallery\u2019s rotunda entrance.<\/p>\n

Disbelief among visitors<\/b><\/p>\n

Three days on, the jewels remain missing and the thieves are still at large \u2014 and reactions are divided.<\/p>\n

“For a place like the Louvre, it\u2019s unfathomable,\u201d said Amanda Lee, 36, an art teacher from Chicago. \u201cI heard it took under four minutes. How is that possible here, with no police in sight?\u201d<\/p>\n

Others were unperturbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told the kids it\u2019s a history lesson. The Apollo Room is shut, but we saw the masterpieces,\u201d said Claire Martin, 41, a French lawyer from Versailles visiting with her two children during a school holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came for the art,” she said. “The police can deal with the thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n

France acknowledges failings<\/b><\/p>\n

Authorities say the thieves spent less than four minutes inside the Louvre on Sunday morning: a freight lift was wheeled to the Seine-facing fa\u00e7ade, a window was forced open and two vitrines were smashed.<\/p>\n

Then came the getaway on motorbikes through central Paris. Alarms had gone off, drawing agents to the gallery and forcing the intruders to bolt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have failed,\u201d Justice Minister G\u00e9rald Darmanin said, noting that the ability to plant a freight lift undetected on a public way projects \u201ca very negative image of France.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As it reopened, the Louvre declined questions from The Associated Press to detail any reinforced protocols. It said no uniformed police were posted in the corridors. With school holidays swelling demand, the day was fully booked and access limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t notice extra security \u2014 guards as always, and no police inside. It felt like a normal day,\u201d said Tom\u00e1s \u00c1lvarez, 29, a software engineer from Madrid.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s opening followed a routine closure on Tuesday, a day when the museum is normally shut.<\/p>\n

The loot<\/b><\/p>\n

The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Am\u00e9lie and Hortense.<\/p>\n

They also made off with an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte\u2019s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eug\u00e9nie\u2019s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch \u2014 an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship \u2014 were also part of the loot.<\/p>\n

One piece \u2014 Eug\u00e9nie’s emerald-set imperial crown, with more than 1,300 diamonds \u2014 was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.<\/p>\n

Fears the jewels will be destroyed<\/b><\/p>\n

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau valued the haul at about \u20ac88 million ($102 million), a \u201cspectacular\u201d figure that still fails to capture the works\u2019 historical weight. She warned the thieves would be unlikely to realize anything close to that sum if they pry out stones or melt the metals \u2014 a fate curators fear would pulverize centuries of meaning into anonymous gems for the black market.<\/p>\n

Beccuau said expert analyses are underway; four people have been identified as present at the scene, and roughly 100 investigators are mapping the crew and any accomplices.<\/p>\n

The heist has intensified scrutiny of the Louvre\u2019s security. Museum director Laurence des Cars appeared before the Senate\u2019s culture committee Wednesday but top officials have, for now, refused to remove her.<\/p>\n

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Those include Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who also drew fire Tuesday after telling lawmakers there had been no security failings.<\/p>\n

Questions about Louvre\u2019s security overhaul<\/b><\/p>\n

All this comes after Macron announced new measures in January for the Louvre \u2014 complete with a new command post and expanded camera grid that the culture ministry says is being rolled out.<\/p>\n

It also raises hard questions, including whether Sunday\u2019s breach is tied to staffing levels, and how uniformly the upgrades in the overhaul are being applied.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a scandal of planning,\u201d said Luca Romano, 52, a civil engineer from Milan visiting Paris with his wife. \u201cIf you can plant a freight lift at a palace and no one stops you, that\u2019s a system failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protection for headline works is airtight \u2014 the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case \u2014 yet the break-in exposed seams elsewhere in a 33,000-object labyrinth. For many French, the contrast is a public embarrassment at the landmark.<\/p>\n

It touches a raw nerve: the issue of swelling crowds and overstretched staff.<\/p>\n

In June, a staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing delayed opening. Unions argue that mass tourism leaves too few eyes on too many rooms and creates pressure points where construction zones, freight access and visitor flows intersect.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Louvre\u2019s other star attractions \u2014 from the Venus de Milo to the Winged Victory of Samothrace \u2014 were open again. But the cordoned-off vitrines in the Apollo Room, guarded and empty, told a different story: one of a breach measured not just in minutes and euros, but in the fragility of a nation\u2019s patrimony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n