Louvre heist ‘irreparable, most spectacular, most serious, surpasses 1911 Mona Lisa theft’: Historian Eric Anceau

Historian Eric Anceau has termed the Louvre jewel heist the most serious and spectacular, even surpassing the theft of Mona Lisa in 1911. Speaking with French daily newspaper Le Monde, the historian also said that the items that were stolen from the world's most famous museum carry a much greater symbolic value.

Speaking about the “priceless loss” from the Louvre heist, Eric Anceau said, “…unlike the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral fire, which led to an incredible wave of support and reconstruction effort, I fear that yesterday's theft may be irreparable.”

“The Louvre has experienced several thefts in the past, but this one is both the most spectacular and the most serious. It even surpasses the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, because, beyond the fact that Leonardo da Vinci's painting was recovered two years later, the Mona Lisa did not have the same fame at the time as it does today. The items stolen on Sunday carry a much greater symbolic value,” he told the French daily.

When asked about the jewels carrying the most value, Eric Anceau said the stolen pieces were linked to the second wife of Napoleon I, the wife of Napoleon III, to Queen Marie-Amélie and others but the tiara – made of pearls and diamonds – carried the most value as “it was worn by France's last sovereign on all major occasions”.

He believed that the Louvre heist was “more likely the work of conventional thieves who will dismantle the stones, recut them and sell them. In that case, the loss would truly be irreparable.”

The Louvre Heist: What we know so far

The world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris was shut on Sunday after several pieces of invaluable jewelry were stolen in a brazen robbery.

A gang broke into the Galerie d’Apollon – a room on the first floor of the Petite Galerie that has housed the French crown jewels since 1887 – and fled with jewels.

Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau has informed that the jewels that were stolen from Louvre were valued at more than $100 million.

Several pieces of jewelry belonged to Napoleon and Empress Eugenie.

The Louvre was opened today, October 22, first time after the heist.

What was stolen from the Louvre?

• Tiara from the jewelery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
• Necklace from the sapphire jewelery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
• Earring, part of a pair from the sapphire jewelery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense
• Emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set
• Pair of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
• Brooch known as the reliquary brooch
• Large brooch of Empress Eugénie

The crown of Empress Eugenie – made of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds – was found outside the museum. It is believed that the thieves dropped it while fleeing. Historian Eric Anceau said that Napoleon III “commissioned the country's greatest goldsmiths and jewelers to craft it.”

(With agency inputs)