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The world’s largest art museum, louvre, Its collection contains approximately half a million objects, of which approximately 30,000 are on display, and is visited by an average of 8 million visitors per year. It’s big by any scale, with a lot of people and things to keep track of. And Sundays are especially busy.
one in a cleverly thought out operationFour men wearing fluorescent vests came there louvre Sunday morning at 9.30 in a flat-decked truck. Quickly getting to work, he raised an extendable ladder to the second floor. Climbing it, he cut out a window, entered the Galerie d’Apollon and, wielding power tools, helped to retrieve nine exquisite objects.
The items taken were the royal jewels of FranceThe former belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III and patron of the arts.
This is where it gets tricky for thieves: What can you do with these priceless items? They can’t wear them – too big and shiny to go unnoticed – and they can’t sell them legally, because the photos are all over the Internet.
From the thieves’ point of view, the best situation is to break them, melt the precious metals, and sell the gems separately.
Queen Eugenie’s tiara, which was taken by the criminals and later dropped while fleeing the scene on a motor scooter, contains eight gold eagles, 1,354 brilliant-cut diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds. In short, it amounts to a huge stockpile of different gems to try and sell.
timing is everything
For louvreAny robbery is a big blow. This raises questions about their electronic and human security. Five security staff were nearby who acted to protect the visitors and raised alarms, but the entire robbery was completed within seven minutes.
In case of robberies, time is of the essence.
In 2019, artist Maurizio Cattelan’s 18-karat gold toilet, titled America (2016), was stolen from Blenheim Palace, England. It was taken in five and a half minutes. Its weight was 98 kg and it was fully functional. In other words, the two men who took it (and were later caught and served prison time for their crimes) worked quickly and efficiently. At the time of the theft, it was valued at A$6 million in gold bullion.
Van GoghThe painting The Parsonage Garden at Neuen in Spring (1884) was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands during the Covid closure in 2020. It was recovered in late 2023 following an investigation by Dutch art detective Arthur Brand.
The theft of two Gottfried Lindauer paintings from Auckland’s International Art Center in 2017 took just minutes to complete. Thieves stormed the front window of the auction house, where paintings worth NZ$1 million were on display. These images were recovered through an intermediary five years later, with only minor damage.
recovery of stolen goods
National Gallery of Victoria picasso The painting Weeping Woman (1937) was famously taken by Australian cultural terrorists in 1986 – but disappeared after only two days.
Recovered only two weeks later, the painting was left for gallery staff to collect in a locker at Spencer Street railway station. The motivation behind the theft was to highlight the lack of financial support given to Victorian artists, but the true identity of the thieves remains a mystery.
About the author
Penelope Jackson is an Assistant Research Associate in the School of Social Work and Arts at Charles Sturt University.
This article is republished from Conversation Under Creative Commons license. read the original article,
In 1986, 26 paintings of religious subjects were stolen from the gallery of a Benedictine monastery in New Norcia, Western Australia.
The thieves were poor planners: They had not paid attention to the three men and the stockpile of pictures could not fit in a Ford Falcon. The paintings had been cut from their frames, apparently having been mutilated. One was completely destroyed. The thieves were caught and put on trial.
Where to go next for the thief?
Recovery of items from robberies is less. It is impossible to give a number, but some say art recovery globally is probably less than 10%.
Paintings are more difficult to sell – you cannot alter their physical appearance to such an extent that they become unrecognizable.
However, with items such as gold toiles or jewelry, precious materials and gemstones can be reused. Only time will tell whether Napoleon’s jewelery will be recovered or not.
never say Never. mona lisa (1503), undoubtedly the highlight of the Louvre, was stolen in 1911 and recovered two years later. The thief, Vincenzo Perugia, was an Italian servant working at the Louvre and was caught trying to sell it.
This latest robbery at the Louvre highlights the vulnerability of objects in public collections. The irony is that these are often gifted to such institutions for safekeeping.
The people who guard the objects are usually paid minimum wages and yet are entrusted with a huge responsibility. When budgets are cut, security staff are often reduced – such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ announcement just last week.
The thieves on Sunday knew what they were doing and why. We do not know their motivation. We know the stolen jewels are part of France‘s history and are irreplaceable. Their theft deprives visitors of experiencing them individually for their beauty and craftsmanship, as well as collectively in the context of France’s history.
But a part of me can’t help but think about how the French were biased in helping others with artifacts and precious objects. So maybe it could be a case of déjà vu.
Penelope Jackson’s Unseen: Art and Crime in Australia (Monash University Publishing) will be published in December 2025.