Gone in 240 seconds: The eight priceless treasures stolen from Louvre revealed
The Ministry of Culture has revealed which eight priceless treasures the chainsaw-wielding robbers snatched from the Louvre.
Two high-security display cases in the Apollo Gallery of the world’s most popular museum were targeted by the gang who fled on high-powered scooters.
The gang, who disguised themselves as construction workers on a cherry picker, are still on the run.
Authorities fear the one-of-a-kind, and therefore highly recognisable items will be melted down and destroyed before being sold on.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on X: ‘The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is part of our history. We will recover the works and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this.’
The eight items stolen were:
Tiara from the matching set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
The tiara is composed of five articulated elements, each topped with a large sapphire.
There is a total of 24 sapphires, ten of which are very small, and one thousand eighty-three diamonds.
This tiara has been modified over time and was worn successively by Queen Hortense, Queen Marie-Amélie, and Isabelle of Orléans.
It remained in the Orléans family until 1985 but its origins remain mysterious. Both the commissioner and the maker are unknown, but this ensemble is a precious testament to Parisian jewellery.
Necklace from the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
The necklace is composed of eight sapphires of varying sizes and 631 diamonds.
All the links of the necklace are articulated, revealing the great technical perfection of this ensemble.
Earring, from a pair of the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
Emerald necklace from the set of Marie-Louise
The emerald necklace was gifted to Marie-Louise by Napoleon for their wedding. (Picture: Musée du Louvre)
The complete set was presented by Napoleon to Marie-Louise on the occasion of their wedding, delivered at the end of March 1810.
It included a tiara, a necklace, a pair of earrings and a comb.
The necklace is composed of 32 emeralds, including 10 pear-shaped ones, 1,138 diamonds, including 874 brilliant-cut and 264 rose-cut.
There are ten large emeralds, alternately oval or lozenge-shaped, encircled by diamonds which are joined by palmettes setting a small round emerald.
Each of the large emeralds is suspended by a pear-shaped emerald encircled by diamonds. The central emerald (13.75 metric carats), oval in shape, is cut with eight sides.
Pair of emerald earrings from the set of Marie-Louise
These were a part of the wedding set gifted to Marie-Louise by Napoleon for their wedding.
The earrings feature two pear-shaped emeralds (45.20 carats), four other emeralds, and 108 diamonds.
The reliquary brooch
The brooch is a rosette formed of seven diamonds surrounding a solitaire with a total of 94 diamonds. The reverse side is chiseled with scrolls and leaves.
Its style can be described as historicist.
Since the sale of the Crown Diamonds in 1887, the phrase ‘reliquary’ has been associated with the brooch – it is also engraved on the attachment pin.
Tiara of Empress Eugénie
The tiara is composed of seven stems of three large superimposed pearls alternating eight pelt-shaped cartouches, topped with a pear and diamond foliage.
In total, there are 212 pearls including 17 pears, 1998 diamonds and 992 roses.
Large bow corsage of Empress Eugénie (brooch)
The bow with two loops and folded sides is completed with two braids of unequal lengths finished with tassels of passementerie with articulated fringes.
Recently purchased by the museum for €6.72million, it has a total of 2,438 diamonds and 196 roses.
This bow originally formed the centre of a belt initially composed of more than 4,000 stones belonging to the Diamonds of the Crown, to be exhibited, among other sets, at the Universal Exhibition of 1855, and then to be worn by Empress Eugénie.
No drawing or photographic document of this belt has been found, although testimonies attest that Eugénie wore it at least twice: for the reception held at the Palace of Versailles for the visit of Queen Victoria on August 25, 1855, and then for the reception held at the Hôtel de Ville for the christening of the Prince Imperial on June 14, 1856.
However, by 1864, the sovereign had given up wearing this imposing jewel and wanted to keep only the bow as a bodice brooch, whose cascade of ribbons and tassels would descend to the waist.
The extremely skilful setting gave great flexibility to the bow and tassels, making the stones sparkle with the slightest movement.
The alarms on the two targeted display cases were triggered which is when five museum workers immediately intervened to apply security protocol, according to the press release.
The Ministry of Culture said in a statement: ‘Thanks to the professionalism and rapid response of the Louvre officers, the criminals were put to flight, leaving behind their equipment and one of the stolen objects, namely the crown of Empress Eugenie, the condition of which is under examination.
‘An attempt to set fire to the mechanical vehicle used by the criminals was prevented thanks to the intervention of a Louvre Museum officer.
‘The Minister of Culture would like to thank the Louvre Museum officers for their responsiveness and great professionalism.’
The four robbers who escaped with eight pieces of ‘priceless’ jewellery from the Louvre museum in Paris are still on the run.
The gang dressed in hi-vis jackets rode a basket lift up the Louvre ‘s facade, forced a window open before smashing into display cases and fleeing with priceless Napoleonic jewels.
The four-minute heist took place just after opening, with visitors already inside.
Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced police were now hunting four suspects from the gang who had apparently disguised themselves as construction workers.
The four men had their faces ‘covered’ and fled the iconic art gallery ‘on high-powered scooters,’ the magistrate told BFMTV.
The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence. Another notorious episode came in 1956, when a visitor hurled a stone at her world-famous smile, chipping paint near her left elbow and hastening the move to display the work behind protective glass.
Today the former royal palace holds a roll call of civilisation: Leonardo’s Mona Lisa; the armless serenity of the Venus de Milo; the Winged Victory of Samothrace, wind-lashed on the Daru staircase; the Code of Hammurabi’s carved laws; Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People; Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa.
The objects — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to Europe’s masters — draw a daily tide of up to 30,000 visitors even as investigators now begin to sweep those gilded corridors for clues.