Following the robbery at the Louvre Museum, deputy (LR) Alexandre Portier, also president of the cultural affairs commission of the National Assembly, will propose the creation of a commission of inquiry into “the protection of French heritage and the security of museums,” he told BFMTV, confirming a Politico report.
The launch of this commission of inquiry should take place this week, he added. A report from the Court of Auditors, consulted by AFP and made public this Monday, October 20, indicates a significant delay in the “deployment of the teams intended to guarantee the protection of the works” at the Louvre.
The Louvre Museum “has not managed to catch up in the deployment of equipment intended to guarantee the protection of the works,” the report details. “We had to take care of those who are arguing today first, we have always swept the dust under the rug,” lamented Rachida Dati, on CNews.
Seven minutes for a spectacular robbery
On Sunday, October 19, at 9:30 a.m., a group of four criminals broke into the Apollon wing with a basket, where they stole eight 19th-century jewels of “invaluable heritage value.” After seven minutes in the largest museum in the world, the four thieves fled at the wheel of two T-Max scooters.
Among the eight stolen objects is the sapphire necklace of Queen Marie Amélie and Queen Hortense, composed of eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, and the tiara of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, which has nearly 2,000 diamonds. In their escape, the criminals abandoned a ninth object, the crown of Empress Eugenia, and its condition is “under examination,” the Ministry of Culture said in a statement, referring to a “particularly rapid and brutal” theft.
“We will find the works and the authors will be brought to justice,” Emmanuel Macron promised in the afternoon. The last theft recorded at the Louvre took place in 1998, when a painting by the French painter Camille Corot was stolen. She was never found.
Source: BFM TV
