The director of the Louvre in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France’s crown jewels from one of the world’s most visited museums.
Laurence des Cars submitted her resignation to President Emmanel Macron, who praised her decision at a time when, his office said, the museum needed “calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernisation”.
A new director was appointed on Wednesday – Christophe Leribault, who is currently the director of Palace of Versailles.
In October, thieves used a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the museum from a balcony close to the River Seine.
The four main suspects have been arrested, but eight prized pieces of jewellery, worth an estimated €88m (£76m; $104m) have not been recovered. They include a diamond and an emerald necklace Emperor Napoleon gave to his wife.
“Leribault’s priority will be to strengthen the safety and security of the building, the collections, and people, to restore a climate of trust, and to carry forward, together with all the teams, the necessary transformations for the museum,” France’s culture ministry said in a statement about his appointment.
Earlier this month, the Louvre released the first image of a 19th-Century diamond-studded crown belonging to Empress Eugenie, which was dropped as the thieves fled and was damaged.
The museum, which is home to priceless works of art including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said it was “nearly intact” and could be fully restored.
Days after the raid, des Cars admitted that CCTV around the Louvre’s perimeter was weak and “ageing” – with the only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where the thieves broke in pointing away from the balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels.
Despite the museum’s huge volume of visitors – more than 8.7 million a year – investment in security has been slow and she highlighted the budget challenges big institutions face.
Des Cars, who became director of the Louvre in 2021, said she wanted to double the number of CCTV cameras.
A parliamentary inquiry into the failures is under way.
Its findings are due out in May, but a preliminary report released last week spoke of “systemic failures” which enabled the break-in.
Since then, the museum has also been beset by a suspected ticket fraud scheme, as well as suffering a water leak.
Credit: BBC
