Journalism of Courage
The Louvre has moved some of its most valuable treasures to the Bank of France following last week’s daring daylight heist that exposed major security flaws at the world-famous museum, French radio RTL reported.
According to RTL, the transfer of select pieces from the museum’s Apollo Gallery — which houses France’s crown jewels — took place on Friday under heavy police escort. The Bank of France, located just 500 metres from the Louvre on the Right Bank of the Seine, holds the nation’s gold reserves in a fortified vault 27 metres (88 feet) underground.
Neither the Louvre nor the Bank of France has commented on the report.
The move comes after eight priceless items, valued at around $102 million, were stolen from the museum on October 19. The thieves used a crane to smash an upstairs window during visiting hours and fled on motorbikes.
The suspects — dressed in bright yellow jackets — broke into the gallery at 9:34 am and fled by 9:38 am on Sunday morning on motorbikes, using a cherry picker to access the museum’s upper windows.
Among the stolen items were Empress Eugenie’s wedding crown, set with nearly 2,000 diamonds and 200 pearls, and a sapphire-and-diamond diadem worn by Queen Marie-Amelie. Also missing is an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Marie-Louise of Austria in 1810, along with matching earrings, a reliquary brooch, and a large diamond-studded bodice bow.
A ninth piece — another of Eugenie’s crowns — was dropped and damaged during the robbers’ escape.
The heist has sparked national outrage and embarrassment for the government, already facing criticism for repeated lapses in museum security. Conservative lawmaker Maxime Michelet told Parliament, “Empress Eugenie’s crown — stolen, then dropped and found broken in the gutter, has become the symbol of the decline of a nation that used to be so admired. It is shameful for our country, incapable of guaranteeing the security of the world’s largest museum.”
In recent years, the Louvre has struggled with mass tourism, staff strikes, and acts of vandalism — including a 2024 protest in which activists threw soup at the Mona Lisa. President Emmanuel Macron has since announced plans for a major renovation, including a dedicated room for the painting.
