Editor’s Note
Following the theft at the Louvre, President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to recover the stolen artworks and bring the perpetrators to justice, calling the act an attack on cherished national heritage.
“The Louvre New Renaissance project, which we launched in January, includes a strengthening of security. It will be the guarantor of the preservation and protection of what constitutes our memory and our culture,” the President also commented.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, on BFM TV, mentioned that “sixty investigators” were mobilized and assured of the “total determination” of the authorities to find the thieves. Without giving any specific date, Laure Beccuau “does not doubt that (the museum) will be able to reopen” in “the coming days,” as the technical examinations seem “now completed,” she added.
The famous Parisian museum was targeted by burglars this Sunday morning. They entered the Galerie d’Apollon to get their hands on jewelry. According to a latest assessment, eight pieces of jewelry were stolen.
This sumptuous piece is among the treasures stolen this morning. With its 32 emeralds and 1,138 diamonds, it is 43 cm long.
A tiara, a necklace, and an earring from the parure of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense were indeed stolen this Sunday from the Louvre. The characteristic of this parure is its bluish tint, due to the ornamentation of each piece with Ceylon sapphires, according to the Louvre’s website.
This is not the first time a theft has occurred in the Galerie Apollon of the museum. The military sword of Charles X was indeed stolen during an “armed robbery at the Louvre museum on the night of December 16, 1976,” the institution specifies on its website. And the famous ceremonial sword is still being sought today.
It shows a person, dressed in black, with a yellow vest on their shoulders, standing before jewelry of “priceless” value. These are the first images of the theft in the Galerie d’Apollon, just before the escape of the burglars who are still being sought.
Dozens of curious onlookers flocked this Sunday afternoon under the balcony through which the criminals entered to steal exceptional jewelry from the Louvre. Everyone wants to understand “how is this possible”…
Before this Sunday’s theft, the world’s most famous museum and the treasures it houses have fueled the fantasies of many artists.