Maggie Sgaramella ’26
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
Seven minutes was all it took for four masked thieves to steal approximately 102 million dollars worth of jewelry from perhaps the most infamous museum in the world. On October 19, 2025, from the exact time of arrival at 9:30am to their swift escape at just seven minutes later, the mysterious thieves completed what is sure to become a legendary heist.
The heist was completed in broad daylight, with the thieves arriving at the museum right as it opened to the public. They approached the Louvre in a truck with a large crane on it to pose as construction or restoration workers. Under this disguise, the thieves used an angle grinder to cut directly into the side of the building and enter the Apollo Gallery where the jewels were held. The angle grinder enabled them to cut into the display cases that housed the eight pieces of jewelry that they took. Interestingly, instead of targeting the more “priceless” art pieces at the Louvre, like the famous Mona Lisa or the myriad of famous Rembrandts and Italian Renaissance masterpieces, the thieves chose to go for precious jewels instead. An acclaimed writer and science communicator remarked that this was in part due to the resellable properties of these artifacts. “You can melt down stuff and it’s worth money, you can cut gems into smaller sizes and they’re worth money.”
These jewels don’t only have incredible monetary value, but they also serve as important artifacts in France’s rich cultural history. A Louvre spokesperson even said to NPR that such artifacts were of “inestimable cultural and historical value”. The historic jewels belonged to Napoleon and his wife during his infamous rule in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Dr. Topher Row, AP Art History teacher, says that “The Louvre had actually purchased the emerald necklace in the 1880s”, after the French government sold the French jewels in a time of political strife. It took years of work and lots of money for the Louvre to buy them back. “To lose them like this after all that work is horrible” remarks Dr. Row.
This incident highlights far more than a prominent security breach, it underscores the nation’s sense of perseverance of cultural identity. A French man by the name of Karim Antilele, remarks “It’s not good to steal, but don’t come after our cultural heritage.” Dr. Row corroborates the same feeling, reflecting the French “take their cultural patrimony very seriously.” For them, this heist isn’t just a crime, it is “a direct attack on the French identity.” It is clear that this heist on such a beloved museum carries a deeper meaning for the people of Paris – but why? “The collection of western art is unlike any other”, says AP European History Teacher, Kris Aldridge about the importance of the Louvre. “The art and artifacts in museums are for public consumption, they are available to all of us as part of the human family. When they are taken away,whether stolen or, frankly, displayed in private homes, they cease being ‘ours.’”
As the Louvre museum has come under scrutiny for their seemingly lax security, the question arises whether or not the museum security was just focused elsewhere. On average, the Louvre Museum hosts around 24,000 guests per day. The Louvre’s responsibility to those guests and their safety comes first and foremost. However, there is also an argument to be made that the Louvre’s security ought to have been more prioritized in the past to prevent such an incident. In 2021, the Louvre museum hired a new director, Laurence des Cars. Along with this new appointment came a series of security audits, Some of which, according to an article in Hyperallergic Magazine, an arts and culture publication, were set to be implemented in 2026. Dr. Row notes as well that the Louvre had been undergoing significant overhauls sponsored by the French government. Such lacking security measures could be in part the fault of underfunding and understaffing that the updates to the Louvre were meant to address.
Photo courtesy of Architectural Digest
Sherri Davidoff, a cybersecurity expert and the CEO of LMG Security weighs in on the possibility that the thieves could have known that certain new security measures were to be implemented in the near future, due to the leaking of aforementioned audits, and thus they may have planned their heist accordingly to take place sooner. Davidoff also says plainly that “The Louvre was built for security, but it was built for security in 1190.” Subsequently, there is a certain method required for any additions or modifications to historic buildings such as the Louvre, so it is not exactly easy to make substantial updates. So why exactly is the world so enthralled by this event? What makes heists so compelling? Art History Club leader and student Jordan Shanahan ’26, remarks that heists are compelling because they “often seem so far-fetched and improbable.” Shanahan explains that the excitement of a heist can even draw attention to a piece of artwork. “Many people don’t know this, but part of the reason that the Mona Lisa is so famous is that it was stolen in a heist by a former employee of the Louvre. This same awe of a heist drew attention to the Mona Lisa, and I think it shows a kind of mirror image of the bewilderment we feel today.” From the legendary Antwerp Diamond Heist to the more mysterious Gardener Museum theft, heists as a genre of crime have always been popular in the media. Aldridge remarks that heists “have been glorified in movies and such so that some folks view the heist as a success of ingenuity and bravado in the face of the ‘system.’” This dramatization of heists in movies and television greatly neglects the reality and severity of such a crime. Because, at the end of the day, it is still a crime.
Since the heist, the ongoing investigation has been widely publicized. Five suspects have been apprehended and questioned, resulting in three being released and the others prosecuted. News outlets and the police say it is possible that one suspect is still at large today. One of the key tools in finding the thieves was found in the Royal Crown of Empress Eugenie. This crown, stolen from the display cases along with the other jewels, was hastily dropped during the escape. Trace fingerprints found on the crown, and around the rest of the Apollo Gallery, helped lead French police to their arrests.
This event begs a lot of questions for the future of museum security. Davidoff says that she expects to see new trends surrounding stricter surveillance at the Louvre and beyond. Interestingly, there becomes the new possibility of technological advancements to securing precious jewels. Davidoff speaks to the possibility of microscopic etching technology to identify jewels if they are resold on the black market. Dr. Row hopes for the implementation of scanning technology to document the imperfections of famous jewels to ensure they are not resold.
The heist on October 19, 2025 was the second successful heist in the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre. The first being in 1976, when the gallery was broken into from the outside in a very similar way to the modern incident. Thieves then stole the diamond encrusted sword of King Charles X. It was a tragedy for art history lovers worldwide. “The lovely part about art museums is it is art accessible to all,” comments Dr. Row. He and others everywhere hope the precious artifacts are returned to their rightful home soon.
