WEEKLY Dose of Art

Hey art lover,

A sad news for you all.

A Seven Minutes Of The Louvre Heist

It was 9:30 AM on a Sunday morning in Paris.

The Louvre had been open for just 30 minutes. 

Tourists were already flooding in to see the Mona Lisa. 

And four thieves dressed as construction workers did the boldest museum heists in history, that too in broad daylight.

In just seven minutes, they stole $102 million worth of Napoleon's crown jewels.

Watch the full story unfold: See the actual security footage, the escape route, and exactly what was stolen.

Then they vanished into Paris on motorcycles.

Why do experts think those jewels are already gone forever?

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So How Did They Come in?

Picture this scene on a quiet Sunday morning along the Seine.

A truck pulls up to the Louvre's riverside entrance. It's got a mobile furniture elevator, basically a giant extendable ladder on the back.

Four guys hop out wearing yellow construction vests with orange traffic cones.

Nobody questions them. They seriously looked like official workers.

They extend the ladder up to the second floor. Right to a balcony outside the Apollo Gallery, one of the most ornate rooms in the entire museum.

Tour guide Ryan el Mandari was there. He told CNN he heard "stomping" on the windows. Then museum staff started running and yelling "get out, evacuate!”

The Heist in Four Minutes

Two thieves climbed the ladder with angle grinders. You know what's that? They are power tools that slice through metal like butter.

They cut through the window. Yes, alarms were screaming of course. But they didn't care. They were already inside.

Straight to two display cases. Smash. Grab.

Literally just 4 minutes inside the gallery, according to French Culture Minister Rachida Dati.

Then they came back down the ladder. Onto two Yamaha scooters.

Total time? Seven minutes.

Gone before security could do anything.

What They Stole?

No this wasn't just expensive jewelry. 

This was Napoleon's legacy.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said: "This sum is spectacular, but the historical damage is incomparable."

You can't put a price on Napoleon's actual wedding gift. It's French history. It's irreplaceable.

A Nation in Shock

Ouch.

This is the Louvre. The world's most-visited museum. 8.7 million visitors in 2024.

And four guys with power tools just robbed it in broad daylight.

100 Cops Were Investigating But Zero Leads

About 100 investigators are hunting these thieves.

The stolen items are in Interpol's database. Israeli security firm CGI Group, same team that solved the 2019 Dresden heist, is helping.

Still. Not looking good.

The Precious Jewels Are Probably Gone

Art crime experts think those jewels are already destroyed.

Laura Evans, a crime historian told: "My cynical belief is that these gems have most likely already been broken down for their parts."

Think about it.

Napoleon gave that emerald necklace to Marie-Louise in 1810. It survived 215 years. Revolutions. Wars. Centuries.

And now? Some criminal is probably melting the gold and re-cutting the stones.

The history? Gone.

The craftsmanship? Destroyed.

All for quick cash.

Museums Are Under Attack

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said it plainly: "Organized crime today is targeting art objects. Museums have become targets

_{^{Why jewellery instead of paintings?}}

You can't melt down a Picasso and sell it for parts. But diamonds? Emeralds? Gold? Easy money.

How did this happen?

The Louvre screwed up. Plain and simple.

A 2024 audit found security improvements were "uneven and generally very limited."

They knew. They just didn't fix it.

President Macron announced a €700 million "Louvre New Renaissance" plan in January 2025. But workers say changes have been "slow to reach the floor."

Too slow.

The Louvre's History with Theft

This isn't their first time.

August 1911: The Mona Lisa was stolen by a museum employee who hid in a closet overnight, grabbed it off the wall, and walked out with it under his coat.

It took two years to recover.

But this feels different.

In broad daylight. With tourists inside

Seven minutes.

That's all it took to steal 215 years of history

And the saddest part? Not that they were stolen. But they're probably already destroyed.

This Week in Art