The Sunday burglary from the Louvre Gallery of 8 valuable items of precious jewelry coming from Emperor Napoleon and his other half has actually fired up a nationwide objection and across the country manhunt.
French Head Of State Emmanuel Macron called the crime “a strike on a heritage that we value since it is our background,” and pledged that “the criminals will certainly be brought to trial.”
However it’s not the very first time that burglars have actually swiped art from the well known Parisian gallery– and not every one of those taken jobs have actually been recouped.
Policemans stand near the pyramid of the Louvre gallery after records of a burglary, in Paris, France, Oct. 19, 2025.
Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
1911: Burglary of the “Mona Lisa”
Among one of the most renowned art break-ins in background was the 1911 theft of the “Mona Lisa.” The 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci work of art was taken by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian immigrant that had actually operated at the Louvre as a handyman and that smuggled the paint out of the structure after hours by eliminating it from its framework and concealing it below his job layer.
An enormous manhunt followed for the paint, throughout which also a young Pablo Picasso was examined. Yet 2 years passed prior to the paint was found, and just after that since Peruggia– that had actually maintained the paint concealed in his Paris house every one of that time, awaiting the fury over the burglary to go away– tried to offer it to an Italian art supplier. The supplier rather signaled the authorities, that detained Peruggia. The “Mona Lisa” was gone back to the Louvre, currently a family name due to the burglary, and Peruggia invested 7 months behind bars.
Groups of visitors take images of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa inside the Louvre Gallery in Paris, June 7, 2024.
Antoine Boureau/Hans Lucas/AFP by means of Getty Photos
1976: Burglary of the Sword of Charles X
Comparable to Sunday’s break-in, a triad of concealed males stole a jeweled 19th-century sword coming from French King Charles X by utilizing a scaffold to go into the gallery via its 2nd flooring. The sword– which was housed in the Beauty Gallery, the very same gallery where the Napoleonic gems were taken Sunday– has actually never ever been recouped.
1983: Burglary of 16th-century shield
In 1983, 2 items of 16th-century Renaissance shield talented to the gallery by the Rothschild household were taken from the gallery over night. Almost 40 years passed prior to the shield was recouped in 2021, when an evaluator identified the safety helmet and top back item amongst the products he was valuing as component of an estate in Bordeaux and called cops.
It was never ever established that took the shield items or exactly how they did it. The items were returned to the Louvre and get on display screen there.
Jean-Luc Martinez, head of state of the Louvre Gallery, holds an old breastplate throughout its main restitution in Paris, March 3, 2021. A breastplate and a ritualistic safety helmet from the Italian Renaissance, were turned over by the cops to the Louvre gallery after being located in Bordeaux throughout a public auction connected to an estate.
Thomas Samson/AFP by means of Getty Photos
1990: Burglary of a Renoir paint and Roman gems
In wide daytime, burglars reduced a little Renoir paint called “Picture of a Seated Lady” from its framework on a third-floor gallery andmade off with it Also stolen were 12 items of Roman precious jewelry. The prizes have yet to be recouped.
1998: Burglary of “Le Chemin de Sevres”
In one of the most current reported burglary from the Louvre before Sunday’s, a Camille Corot paint called “Le Chemin de Sevres” was reduced from its framework, like the Renoir and the “Mona Lisa.” The burglary triggered the gallery to go through a protection overhaul, yet the paint stays absent.
