How was the Louvre ‘heist of the century’ pulled off?

What a horrible event.

The thieves stole Napoleon’s crown jewels from the Louvre in the 7-minute heist - a symbol of French history and the Republic.

I expect the jewels will be melted down and sold for it’s raw material value. Like Berlin’s Bode Museum theft of 2017, and the bracelet of Pharaoh Amenemope in Egypt just a month ago.

✲✲✲

Unfortunately, I think art museums (esp. the Louvre) will be expected to turn ever more into banks now.

Already so many works of art are behind high-quality museum glass. They’re awful. It’s a dreadful & imposing barrier between the art and the visitor. And it’s going to get worse in the future. 

There will be more need for glass, more need for queues, more document checks, more security scanning, more people walking up-and-down and eyeing you suspiciously.

The trouble is that these are government museums with objects of cultural importance to the society - not hedge funds. It’s not right to charge visitors with high prices for tickets. And the government is already stretched with more pressing concerns. There are always complaints about limits on staff in every museum. Not enough staff. Too many people. Not enough security.

The British Museum has had it own grief back in 2023 with stolen artifacts. And the consequence now entails long queues to go through security checks. The louvres staff has been complaining and going on strike for some years now. But, where are governments supposed to get such resources from?

I paid 22 euros for my ticket in September 2025. If you charge more, then you’ll be excluding the poor.

Everytime something like this happens, I know there’ll be howling for more security from museum directors ... thereby turning these institutions into awful airport-like experiences.

😟