French Culture Ministry admits stolen Louvre jewels are not insured
The French Culture Ministry has confessed that the eight pieces of jewellery stolen in the recent Louvre robbery were not insured.
On October 19th, a group of masked thieves gained easy access to the museum’s first floor via a furniture lift.
In the daylight robbery, the thieves raided the collection once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte’s family and the Empress Marie Louise. These items included A necklace, a brooch, and a tiara. They dropped the empress’s crown as they made their escape.
According to the French culture ministry, the country would not be reimbursed for any losses linked to the stolen items if they are not recovered by the police.
Earlier this week, a prosecutor revealed that the jewellery stolen from the tourist attraction is valued at €88 million. Now, a culture ministry spokesperson has shared with the French newspaper, Le Parisien, “The state acts as its own insurer when national museums’ works are in their typical place of conservation.”
Moreover, the French state is usually liable for artworks in its national collection. However, museums almost always buy insurance cover, even though it is “very often higher than the value of acquiring the work.”
Therefore, the country will not be reimbursed for any losses linked to the stolen items. Their best hope lies in the police recovering the jewels.
In addition to this blunder, a leaked audit suggested the Louvre’s security systems were “outdated and inadequate”, and one room didn’t even have any working cameras.
On October 22nd, the Louvre shared a post on X that read, in translation, “The Senate hearing of the Louvre Museum president Laurence des Cars was remarkable. I offer her my full support. The political exploitation of this outrageous theft must stop, as must the hateful witch hunt that ensues from it.”
During the hearing, Des Cars shared that the “absolutely obsolete, even absent, technical infrastructure” to monitor the country’s most valuable treasures was a “terrible observation” for the Louvre. She also shared that she had offered her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati after the robbery. Dati subsequently rejected it.
This links to a statement made by Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister of France, who bemoaned the wider ramifications on the country, sharing, “People were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels and give France a terrible image.”
