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Although the Louvre was closed on Tuesday, the museum continued to tighten security measures, this time installing bars on its windows, through which thieves entered the museum in October and stole jewelry, much of which has still not been recovered.
The window faces a space in the Apollo Gallery. The thieves used a ladder to reach the window from the outside, then used power tools to cut through the glass and gain access to the gallery.
After facing condemnation from politicians and the public, the museum pledged to improve its security measures. Frances Steinbock, deputy director of the Louvre, told AFP today that the bars mark an attempt to achieve this goal.
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“We had a commitment to have this done by the end of the year,” Steinbock said. He noted that the museum plans to continue discussions “to secure additional windows.” Other planned security measures include the installation of 100 security cameras.
Louvre director Laurence des Cars, who tried to resign after the robbery but was rebuffed, had previously promised to install such a grille in the Apollo Gallery “before Christmas”. (The original barriers on the windows were removed when the gallery was restored between 2003 and 2004, she said.) The museum eventually closed — the bars were installed on Dec. 23, two days before the holiday — but she kept her promise.
The bars were set up after a searing interview with French art historian Bénédicte Savoy, who is currently giving a series of lectures at the Louvre. new yorker In it she talks about the robbery. She said the theft was like a “rape,” although she admitted that might not be a “good comparison,” saying, “The main takeaway for me is that there is a vulnerability in museums—technologically, physically—that is reflected in the vulnerability of the public response that you can be culturally harmed in a profound collective way.”
