The theft at the Louvre, which occurred on the morning of Sunday 19 October, is one of the most discussed in recent times: four thieves stole 8 jewels in less than 8 minutes, among the most precious in the entire collection worth 88 million euros. The fact has raised huge doubts regarding the safety of the museum and, to see clearly what happened, we must start from the Louvre, the most famous museum in the world, visited by almost 9 million people every year, and from its structure. The theft occurred in the sumptuous Gallery of Apollo, the room where the French crown jewels are kept, while the first visitors were already in the museum.
What the Louvre, the most famous museum in France, is like
The Louvre Museum is by far the most famous museum in all of France and probably in the world: think that every year it is visited by something like 8-9 million visitors. Inside there are collections ranging from ancient history to the nineteenth century and which are divided into three different wings of the museum: the Richelieu wing, the Sully wing and the Denon wing. Of all of them, the Denon Wing is perhaps the most famous because here, in room 711, the Mona Lisa is located. But the Denon wing is also the protagonist of our story since a short distance away, on the same floor, in room 705, is the Gallery of Apollo: it is a wonderful gallery that reflects the taste of French romanticism and inside there are vases of hard stone and, above all, the jewels of the French Crown.
Inside there are 9 display cases and two of these, the fourth and the fifth, contain – or rather, contained – some of the most precious jewels of the entire collection. In fact, in the fourth case there were Empress Eugenie’s bow brooch and her pearl tiara. In the fifth case, however, there were a tiara, a necklace and an earring from the parure of Queen Maria-Amalia and Queen Hortense, plus a brooch from the Empress Eugenie, an emerald necklace and a pair of earrings from the parure of Maria-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife.
We are talking about jewels made up of thousands of diamonds, precious stones and pearls whose value, initially considered priceless due to their historical significance, was actually estimated more realistically at around 88 million euros. Clearly such precious jewels will be highly guarded, right? Well, let’s take a look at the room’s security systems.
The room’s security systems
There are basically two surveillance systems at the Louvre: one internal and one external. Starting from the internal one, every room of the museum – including the Apollo Gallery – is equipped with cameras and alarms. These are designed to be activated in the event that a display case is broken, or in the event of a break-in. The alarm is forwarded to the surveillance staff who, by analyzing the videos, can decide which security procedure to implement.
Here it is worth highlighting the fact that the internal surveillance videos appear not to be monitored 24 hours a day by specialized operators but are only viewed when the alarm is raised. This, clearly, causes a longer response time in case of emergencies. Furthermore, even as regards the number of internal cameras – even if we do not know the exact number – it seems that they are insufficient. According to a report carried out by the French Court of Auditors, it is estimated that 60% of the rooms in the Sully wing and 75% of those in the Richelieu wing are not protected by video surveillance devices, as also reported by the newspaper Le Monde.
Speaking, however, of external systems, the situation here is much more serious. At the moment it is not known exactly how many cameras are arranged along the perimeter but it is certain that their number is largely insufficient. According to some French newspapers, such as the Liberationeven there would only be 5. This is a ridiculous number, if it were true, but it is not confirmed and therefore should be taken with a pinch of salt.
What was instead confirmed by Laurence des Cars, the president of the museum, is that on that side of the Apollo gallery there was indeed a camera, but it was facing west and therefore did not cover the balcony from which the thieves entered. It was therefore a blind spot and, in all likelihood, the thieves knew it well.
The reconstruction of events
Let’s now see the exact chronology of events, seeing what happened minute by minute.
9.30 am
At 9.30 four thieves reach the Louvre. Two thieves are on board two T-Max scooters while the other two are on board a stolen Böcker Agilo goods lift. This is a rather common means of moving in the city, and no one suspects them since some work is underway at the museum; plus, they have the most powerful weapon right on them: the yellow bibs. The yellow bib means “expert” and therefore no one paid too much attention to it.
Once they arrived on site, they parked the vehicle near the Denon wing and, to make the staging even more credible, they also placed cones around the freight elevator. Thanks to the electric ladder, two of them immediately go up to the balcony in front of the Apollo Gallery.
9.34 am
At 9.34 am the thieves use a hose to break the window of the Gallery, managing to enter the Museum. At this point the alarm sounds inside the room, in which there were already tourists. In the area close to that of the theft there are 5 guards: as declared by the Minister of Culture to the press and as also reported by the New York Timesthe protocol in these cases is to give priority to the safety of people rather than chasing the thieves. The guards then evacuate everyone. In the meantime, the thieves act almost undisturbed and with the hose they break into the fourth and fifth cases without hesitation, triggering the respective alarms, and taking away the most valuable jewels in a few seconds.
9.36am – 9.38am
At 9.36 the police are called while at 9.38 the thieves leave the Apollo Gallery and return to the ground again using the ladder. One of the two tries to set fire to the freight elevator to burn the evidence but a police officer who in the meantime had reached the vehicle manages to prevent him. The criminals then flee with the stolen goods on two scooters, speeding along the Seine and then into Parisian traffic, losing their tracks in a few minutes.
During their escape, the thieves left behind two grinders, a blowtorch, petrol, gloves, a walkie-talkie and a blanket. But most importantly they left behind Empress Eugenie’s crown, which alone contains 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds.
It is unclear whether it was lost, which is likely, or whether it was left behind on purpose, but the fact is that to date this is the only one of the nine jewels that has been recovered by the authorities, even if damaged.
