Paris Louvre Jewels Heist

[PeterRS]

I was not sure whether this should be under "Art" or here. But given the amount of PR the heist has achieved, I think it is appropriate here. As we know, thieves broke into the Louvre on Sunday and stole a fortune in jewellery. Not just any old pieces, either. These were to all intents and purposes the royal jewels of France. Just eight pieces, but of almost incalculable value. One crown is set with 2i2 pearls and 3,000 diamonds!

The gallery from which the French crown jewels were stolen on Sunday

The general public seems to love art heists. They are crimes that involve huge sums of money and usually no one gets hurt. There is a fascination about the lowly art thief who overcomes the latest security measures to steal works of art that are often so unique they can not be sold - other than to private collectors to view in the privacy of their massively expensive mansions.

What makes the Louvre heist noteworthy is twofold. First the Louvre which must be one of the most secure store of art treasures in the world, housing as it does a host of unimaginably pricelss art like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.But secondly, art heists from major museums and galleries are not really that uncommon. The Mona Lisa itself was stolen in 1911. It reappeared two years ater in Perugia in Italy.

The Mona Lisa on its return to Paris - Photo Reuters

Almost annually since then, museums and galleries have updated their security systems to ensure the safety of their treasures. Yet in 1964 lax security enabled thieves to get away with a bagload of precious gems from New York's National Museum of History, including one of the world's largest sapphires, the Star of India. Most seem to have been recovered but one, the Eagle Diamand, has never been found.

Called the largest theft in history, in 1990 two men dressed as police officers walked into Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and walked off with art treasures then valued at US$500 million. None of the 13 stolen works has ever been recovered, and these include a rare Vermeer and three Rembrandts. The Vermeer remains the most valuable stolen painting in the world. Today only 34 works by Vermeer exist, compared to 74 attributed to him in 1866. The 2023 Vermeer Exhibition in Amsterdam drew 650,000 visitors, the largest ever attendance for an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum.

The Concert by Vermeer: the world's most valuable lost painting - Wikipedia

Better known, perhaps, is the case of two men who walked into the National Museum in Oslo in 1994 and in less than a minute walked off with the nation's best-known painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. They clearly had a sense of humour as they left in the painting's frame a note, "A thousand thanks for your poor security!" The painting was recovered there months later

There have been other relatively small thefts. One of the larger ones was at the Paris Museum of Modern Art in 2010. A man known previously as the "Spider-Man" got into the gallery without setting off any alarms and stole five masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Braque and Léger. None has ever been found.

Then in Dresden, thieves used explosives around the Green Vault Museum in 2019 and made off with US$100 million in jewels. Several pieces were damaged in the raid and three have never been recovered.

Just released this week is a movie The Mastermind about art thefts and a man tasked with finding lost artworks.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20251016-the-reason-art-heists-exploded-in-the-1970s

[BjornAgain]

I'm quite sure The Sûreté is on the case, and dusting off their finest Chief Inspector to investigate with comic aplomb.

[khaolakguy]

Inspector Clouseau?

[BjornAgain]

13 minutes ago, khaolakguy said:

Inspector Clouseau?

Si.

[PeterRS]

45 minutes ago, BjornAgain said:

Si.

I think you mean Oui! LOL

[BjornAgain]

15 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I think you mean Oui! LOL

From the cartoon series The Inspector which was part of The Pink Panther Show, when Sergeant Deux-Deux was talking to The Inspector, he always said the Spanish "Si", to which The Inspector always retaliated with, "Don't say Si, say Qui".

[a-447]

Given the apparent lack of security at the Louvre, it's a wonder there's anything left!

The stolen goods weren't even insured 

The French seem to have a cavalier attitude to the protection of its heritage. I was shocked to hear that Notre Dame didn't have a sprinkler system.

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, a-447 said:

 

The French seem to have a cavalier attitude to the protection of its heritage. I was shocked to hear that Notre Dame didn't have a sprinkler system.

this is what happens when country has too much of ancient stuff.

[tm_nyc]

Another one entirely:  A Chinese woman was arrested & charged with the theft of 6 gold nuggets worth 1.5 million euro, which were stolen from the Museum of Natural History in Paris last month.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62ez36ndp3o