Copyright Gizmodo
Yesterday morning, France’s Minister of Culture Rachida Dati posted an announcement on social media that could have been straight out of a heist movie—“A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.” The minister confirmed that there were no injuries and that investigations are underway. While you’d think that the world’s most visited museum would have better security 100 years after the death of Vincenzo Peruggia, the infamous Mona Lisa thief, the thieves are currently still on the loose along with “eight objects of inestimable heritage value,” according to a statement by the Ministry of Culture. Here’s what they are. What they stole A diadem (a crown-like ornament), a necklace, and a single earring from a sapphire jewelry set belonging to Queen Hortense and then Queen Marie-Amélie. The set dates to the first third of the 19th century. The diadem includes 24 sapphires and 1,083 diamonds; the necklace includes eight sapphires and 631 diamonds; the earring includes two sapphires and 59 diamonds. Hortense was Napoleon Bonaparte’s adoptive daughter and his wife Josephine’s natural daughter. She was briefly queen of Holland starting in 1806. Marie Amélie of Naples married Louis Philippe, the future king of France, in 1809. Next in the list of stolen objects are an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings, both of which also seem to be a part of the same set that Napoleon gifted Empress Marie-Louise in 1810. The necklace features 32 emeralds and 1,138 diamonds, while the earrings comprise six emeralds and a total of 108 diamonds. Marie-Louise was Napoleon’s second wife and the great-niece of Queen Marie Antoinette. The thieves also got away with two brooches dating to 1855 and a diadem dating to 1853, all belonging to Empress Eugénie. The “reliquary” brooch includes 94 diamonds, the bow-shaped brooch includes 2,438 diamonds and 196 rose-cut diamonds, and the diadem includes 212 pearls, 1,998 diamonds, and 992 rose-cut diamonds. According to the statement, they left behind Empress Eugénie’s crown (1855), which includes 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds, and 56 emeralds. Eugénie was the wife of Napoleon III, the French Emperor. How did they do it? Four hooded criminals arrived via scooters (the motorcycle-like ones) and accessed the Apollo Gallery on the second floor with a personnel platform, as reported by Le Parisien. Commonly known as man baskets, personnel platforms are specialized lifts for workers. The thieves broke through the glass with the help of an angle grinder, and then two men entered the museum. Per the statement, the thieves triggered security alarms and took off, leaving behind their equipment and failing in an attempt to set fire to their vehicle. Empress Eugénie’s crown was found outside and damaged, according to the French paper.
