Final weekend, over $100 million value of France’s historic assortment of crown jewels was stolen from the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in a brazen raid by thieves utilizing little greater than a few scooters and a disc cutter. Sadly, as a consequence of common lax museum safety requirements, this can seemingly not be the final theft of its type within the coming years.
Historical past of Artwork Theft
Should you’ve ever learn The Goldfinch or visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, you perceive the intrigue behind the best artwork theft tales. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, is certainly one of my favourite books from the previous decade or so. It fantastically weaves collectively a fascinating fictional story of artwork theft, centered round Carel Fabritius’s 1654 tiny trompe-l’oeil oil on panel portray, which depicts a forlorn mud-hued wee fowl chained to a wall-mounted steel perch. The story features a terrorist assault on the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork. It follows the journey of a younger man who survived the assault regardless of the tragic homicide of his mom and his personal involvement within the theft of the portray.
As for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, I at all times suggest it to guests in Boston, though many vacationers choose the Museum of Fantastic Arts. You’ll be able to admire the gorgeous structure and delightful gardens, in addition to the empty frames on the partitions that symbolize lacking artworks like Rembrandt’s 1633 portray, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. These items have been stolen throughout the infamous museum theft in 1990.
The Louvre Royal Jewel Theft
On Sunday, October 19, 2025, a collection of thefts occurred throughout a pivotal eight minutes when thieves utilized on a regular basis instruments similar to a ladder, a disc cutter, and a few scooters to interrupt into the second-floor Apollo Gallery of the Louvre. They stole over $100 million of royal jewels, together with two tiaras and a part of Napoleon’s emerald marriage ceremony present set, which featured extra diamonds than emeralds.
Once I first heard in regards to the theft, I instantly suspected what would possibly occur to the stolen items. They could possibly be dismantled and offered on the black market or to unsuspecting patrons. In truth, the gold and valuable metals would possibly even be melted down.
In contrast to stolen work, such because the Gardner’s Rembrandt, that are tough to promote as a consequence of their excessive recognizability and the dangers concerned in buying paintings pursued by worldwide regulation enforcement, stolen jewellery may be rapidly offered for a revenue. Because of this, some specialists seek advice from this case extra as a “commodity theft” somewhat than an “artwork theft.”
Scooters, a “Monte-Meubles,” and a Disc Cutter
The thieves’ strategies mirror their seemingly intentions to rapidly break up and/or soften down the jewels, as their raid lasted simply eight speedy minutes. At 9:30 am on Sunday, October 19, the gang parked a particular truck-mounted ladder immediately below the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery home windows on the Quai du Louvre. This heavy equipment shouldn’t be frequent stateside, however it’s pretty frequent in Paris, because it is without doubt one of the finest methods to raise heavy furnishings into higher-floor condo home windows. As such, these vehicles are referred to as “monte-meubles,” or “furnishings lifts.”
As soon as the thieves positioned the ladder on the second-floor gallery home windows, they used a disc cutter to interrupt via the window to get inside after which smash open two glass show circumstances. Safety alarms went off as quickly because the gallery home windows have been damaged, however the thieves threatened the frightened safety guards with the disc cutter, dampening any risk of a tussle over the jewels. The thieves escaped, hopped on two electrical scooters they’d positioned outdoors for his or her getaway, and fled. The time was 9:38 am.
Had been the Guards Correctly Skilled?
Why was this theft really easy? Anybody who has labored in or visited a high-profile museum within the final twenty years is aware of that whereas safety guards shield galleries, these guards are completely different from, say, the elite forces of a nation’s army. Sometimes, museum guards are underpaid and undertrained, and whereas they could love artwork or search a low-lift retirement years gig, their capacity and willingness to thwart armed robbers is probably not sufficient.
The reality is, a lot of the museum guards’ work includes begging guests to maintain a distance from the paintings and, by gosh, definitely don’t contact it. There isn’t a playbook for coping with burglars who enter via the window by way of a “monte-meubles” and snatch a number of handfuls of diamonds and emeralds.
A Unhappy Week for France
It has been a tragic week for France with the October 2025 jewel theft, however one can stay hopeful that the royal jewels, a lot of which as soon as belonged to Empress Eugénie, won’t be damaged up on the market and held for ransom as an alternative. Maybe the thieves will keep an oz. of integrity as ethical human beings, acknowledge the worth of the stolen items to the heritage of France and the nation’s historical past, do the proper factor, and try to barter an appropriate sum to return the jewels.
One can hope, however one may also be assured that with out enhanced safety infrastructure on the world’s biggest museums, such because the Louvre, one of these jewellery heist is bound to repeat itself within the coming many years.
Amy Moyer is the proprietor of Antmuffin: Artwork, Antiques & Collectibles. She holds a B.A. in Visible Arts from Brown College and lives in Boston.
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