The theft at the Louvrewhich took place on the morning of Sunday 19 October, is one of the most discussed of the last period: four thieves they stole it in less than 8 minutes well 8 jewelsamong the most precious of the entire collection with a value of 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 pomp Apollo Gallerythe 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 it is absolutely 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: thewing Richelieu, the wing Sully And the wing Denon. Of all of them, the Denon Wing is perhaps the most famous because it is here, in the hall 711there is the Mona Lisa. But the Denon wing is also the protagonist of our story view which is located a short distance away, on the same floor, in room 705 Apollo Gallery: 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 inestimable for its historical significance, was actually estimated more realistically at approximately 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 in 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 operate just in case a case was brokenor in case of 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 emphasizing that internal surveillance videos appear are not 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 created by French Court of Auditorsit is estimated that the 60% of the wing rooms Sully and the 75% of those on the wing Richelieu they would not be 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 Liberationthere might even be some only 5. This is a ridiculous number, if true, but it is not confirmed and therefore should be taken with a grain of salt.
What was instead confirmed by Laurence des Carsthe president of the museum, is that on that side of the apollo gallery actually a camera was there, but it was facing west and therefore it 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 aboard a Böcker Agilo goods lift stolen. 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 arrive on site, they have parked the near medium the Denon wing and, to make the staging even more credible, they also positioned gods cones around the freight elevator. Thanks to the electric ladder, two of them immediately climb onto the balcony in front of the Apollo Gallery.
9.34 am
At 9.34 am thieves use a flexible to break the Gallery window, 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 stated by Minister of Culture to the press and as also reported by New York Timesthe protocol in these cases is to give priority to the safety of people rather than chasing the thieves. The guards, therefore, everyone evacuates. 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 is called the police while at 9:38 the thieves they exit the Apollo Gallery and they always return to the ground using the ladder. One of the two tries to set fire to the freight elevator to burn the evidence but a police officer who had reached the vehicle in the meantime managed to prevent him from doing so. 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 above all they left behind the Crown of Empress Eugeniewhich alone contains 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 diamonds rose cut 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.
