All articles tagged with #louvre
After a real-life Louvre jewel heist disrupted its plans, the Hacks finale was shot in a tightly controlled portion of the Louvre with a 12-person crew, using creative constraints (including Mona Lisa compositing) while the museum was open; the Paris shoot extended to complete an emotional wrap before the series’ Vegas-ending is revealed.
France’s Louvre Museum will see new leadership after director Laurence des Cars resigned following last year’s €88 million “heist of the century.” President Macron accepted the resignation and named Christophe Leribault, formerly of Versailles, as the new Louvre chief, praising stability and a fresh impetus. Des Cars had earlier admitted the museum’s security and infrastructure were outdated in the wake of the Apollo Gallery burglary; the Louvre has faced strikes, crowd-management challenges, and staff concerns, though it drew 8.7 million visitors in 2024.
France appoints Christophe Leribault, formerly head of Versailles, as the Louvre’s new chief to steady the museum after a daylight jewellery heist exposed security gaps, with aims to bolster safety, restore trust, and push modernization amid strikes and ongoing scrutiny.
France’s Louvre director Laurence des Cars resigns amid the October jewel heist, ongoing security problems, labor unrest, and a probe into a decade-long ticket-fraud scheme, as President Macron signals a major modernization push for the museum.
Laurence des Cars has resigned as head of the Louvre after an October daylight heist in which thieves stole about €88m worth of Napoleonic jewellery. A parliamentary inquiry condemned systemic security failures and a denial of risk, highlighting inadequate security upgrades and limited CCTV coverage, and calling for a fresh leadership to drive urgent reforms as investigations continue and the stolen items remain unrecovered.
Paris’s Louvre says its immense size makes fraud statistically inevitable as prosecutors detail a decade-long ticket-fraud scheme that may exceed €10 million, with nine suspects detained; the case involves tour guides reusing tickets and some Louvre staff, and the museum has tightened ticket validation and checkpoint controls.
Nine people were indicted in a decade-long €10 million ticketing scam at the Louvre, involving ticket reuse by guides and splitting groups to dodge controls; cash seizures were made and two Louvre employees were among the suspects, with a broader investigation potentially linked to Versailles; the probe began after the Louvre filed a complaint in 2024 and is ongoing.
A heating-pipe water leak in the Louvre’s Denon wing damaged Charles Meynier’s 1822 ceiling painting The Apotheosis of Poussin, Le Sueur and Le Brun, causing two tears and lifted paint. Room 707 (Duchâtel room) was briefly closed as firefighters stopped the leak within about 40 minutes; a restorer confirmed damage but no structural issues. The museum is reviewing the incident alongside a string of recent problems, including a major jewel heist and previous leaks, with restoration work continuing.
During an October Louvre raid, thieves cut into the Apollo Gallery and seized Napoleonic jewels; Empress Eugénie’s crown slipped from their grasp and was left battered on the pavement. The 1,354-diamond, 56-emerald crown now has palmettes detached, a missing eagle, and about ten diamonds gone, but most components survive and restoration is planned via a competitive bidding process. The Louvre has received offers from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mellerio, Chaumet, and Boucheron, and aims to restore the crown by reshaping its frame rather than recreating it.
After thieves dropped Empress Eugenie’s diamond- and emerald-studded crown during an October Louvre heist, the damaged piece is set for full restoration and is described as nearly intact aside from one missing eagle ornament; the crown’s restoration will be supervised by an expert committee, while the rest of the stolen jewels (about €88 million worth) remain missing and four suspects have been arrested.,
The crown of Empress Eugénie, taken in the Louvre burglary last October, was dropped on the sidewalk and badly damaged—its arches bent, its bejeweled cross toppled, and a golden eagle missing. The Louvre released photos of the damage and announced a restoration process estimated at about 40,000 euros, to be overseen by a committee of experts with work expected to finish by year’s end. Investigations have led to charges against five suspects, while most other jewels remain missing and the Apollo Gallery remains closed.
New surveillance footage aired on French TV shows two masked burglars using a basket lift to break into the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, slicing display cases and stealing nine pieces of jewelry valued at about $102 million; a crown reportedly dropped during the escape and, so far, none of the jewels have been recovered. Four suspects are in custody. The security breach exposed gaps (about 35% of Denon Wing rooms aren’t monitored by cameras) and noted that the jewels were not insured under French law. Louvre staff are trained to evacuate visitors rather than confront thieves, and unions are pressing for more staff as strikes shut the museum at times; investigators are relying on DNA and camera footage in ongoing probes.
The Louvre unveils a two-tier pricing system that raises standard admission for most non-EU visitors to 32 euros (from 22), aiming to fund renovations and security after strikes and the Crown Jewels heist; some visitors still qualify for free admission, while unions criticize the move as limiting access to culture amid ongoing labor actions.
The BBC News Quiz of the Year 2025 challenges readers to recall key events from October to December, including a mysterious Fedora man outside the Louvre, Dolly Parton's health reassurance, Bella Culley's release, and the Epstein files release, as part of a four-part year-end review.
The Louvre is facing a historic crisis due to ongoing strikes over staff shortages, building deterioration, and security failures highlighted by a $102 million jewel heist that exposed critical vulnerabilities, leading to partial reopening and a government intervention to restore confidence.