Arrests and Valuations: The Louvre Heist One Week On
By Millie Barker
Yesterday, police arrested two suspects believed to have helped steal the Louvre jewels last Sunday. Detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport and in the Seine-Saint-Denis Department in North-East Paris respectively, the suspects are known to the police and have criminal records. Further details will not be released until the suspects’ pre-charge custody period is over, but the arrests follow the gathering of over 150 DNA samples at the scene of the crime.
Empress Eugenie’s tiara, one of the eight items stolen from the Apollo Gallery.
Image Courtesy of the Louvre.
The stolen jewellery has been estimated at a value of eighty-eight million euros (seventy-six million pounds). The estimation does not include the inestimable heritage of the jewellery, which belonged to the two imperial families of Napoleon and his nephew Napoleon III. The Minister of French Culture, Rachida Dati, confirmed the eight stolen items as: a tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise; a tiara, necklace, a single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; and a brooch known as the ‘reliquary brooch.’ Another crown worn by Empress Eugénie was recovered, damaged, after being dropped as the thieves fled the scene.
The urgency of the hunt is heightened as the stolen objects can easily be broken up and sold on the black market. There is hope that valuing the jewels will cause the robbers to rethink melting them down.
Police examining the crime scene.
Image Courtesy of Getty Images.
The primary concern following the heist has been on the severe security problems rather than on the jewels themselves. Speaking in front of a French Senate hearing on the 22nd of October, the Director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, acknowledged the ‘terrible failure.’ The Senators expressed their incredulity at the Louvre’s security, asking why there was just one external camera and why it was pointing in the wrong direction. The oversight meant that the arrival of the thieves was not spotted until too late, given that the heist took only seven minutes to complete. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said security protocols had ‘failed’, leaving France with a ‘terrible image.’
Des Cars argued that she had raised concerns about the museums ‘general state of deterioration and obsolescence’ several times since becoming director in September 2021. These problems included cuts to surveillance and security staff over the past decade and decaying infrastructure that could not handle the latest generation of video equipment. The deterioration was set to be addressed in a New Renaissance project, costing between 700 and 800 million euros, conceived by French President Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of the year. The theft has made the urgent necessity of such a project clear. Des Cars offered her resignation to the French Cultural Minister but was refused.
Nita Ambani and Janet Jackson pose infant of the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum’s Pink Gala.
Image Courtesy of Vogue.
The heist has taken the world by storm. One commentator on the story joked ‘Has anyone checked the British Museum?’ This prodded at deeper discords within the heritage landscape after the British Museum was accused of ‘provocative indifference’ by Greece’s Cultural Minister, Lina Mendoni, following their fundraising gala where guests were sat in the Duveen Gallery next to the Parthenon marbles. For now, it’ll be hi-vis on Halloween and the quip ‘heading to the Louvre now, what should I get you?’
Bibliography
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