Directors and curators at leading cultural institutions around the world have signed a letter in solidarity with the Musée du Louvre after it was robbed of some of its most precious artefacts on Sunday 19 October.
British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan, Victoria & Albert Museum head Tristram Hunt, Tate director Maria Balshaw and the National Gallery’s Gabriele Finaldi are among 57 signatories to the open letter, which was published in Le Monde this week.
The audacious daylight raid has put the Louvre’s security arrangements under intense scrutiny, highlighting major weaknesses including ageing technology, low staffing levels and inadequate surveillance equipment.
The open letter defended the Paris museum, saying the world’s cultural institutions were under threat from “unprecedented attacks”.
“This act has shaken us to the core,” said the letter. “Our institutions are not shielded from the world’s brutality. Today, they face unprecedented attacks.
“The event that occurred last Sunday is what all museum professionals dread: The robbery of the common heritage we strive to preserve and share as widely as possible. For some of us, it recalls painful memories. Such risks threaten every institution. They weigh upon every artwork from the moment it is publicly displayed.”
The letter said museums were “places of transmission and wonder” that must remain open and accessible to the public.
“Museums are not strongholds nor are they secret vaults,” the letter said. “Their essence, while creating the safest environment for art and its audiences, lies in their openness and accessibility.”
The letter voiced support for the embattled president-director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, whose offer to resign following the robbery was refused by France’s culture minister Rachida Dati.
“In this time of hardship for the Louvre, we extend our heartfelt support to our colleagues there, and to its president-director, Laurence des Cars, whose leadership and dedication to the mission of museums, in particular as unifying spaces capable of mending our profoundly fractured societies, are deeply respected and admired,” the letter said.
“This heist is not only an attack on the Louvre, but on all museums and their fundamental mission: to share our common heritage as broadly as possible. We will pursue this mission, with passion and determination, alongside the Louvre.”
The 57 signatories on the letter represent museums around the world. They include Manuel Rabaté, director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi; Suhanya Raffel, director of M+ in Hong Kong; Taco Dibbits, director general of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum; Emilie Girard, president of France for the International Council of Museums; Max Hollein, head of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director general of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai, India.
The crime has also been condemned by the UN agency Unesco. A statement from the organisation said: “Unesco strongly condemns the theft of eight priceless cultural objects from the Louvre Museum on 19 October 2025. Such acts jeopardise the conservation, study and transmission of valuable historical artefacts, whilst fuelling international trafficking with serious consequences.”
The Louvre has reportedly transferred other priceless jewels to the Bank of France’s most secure vault, where the country’s gold reserves are stored. The vault lies 26m below street level and is protected by a 50cm-thick, seven-tonne door of fireproof concrete reinforced with steel.
More than 100 investigators are working to recover the jewels. It was reported over the weekend that two men had been arrested in connection with the crime after crucial DNA evidence was left at the scene. The suspects are currently being questioned and can be held for up to 96 hours.
The eight treasures stolen in the raid were all pieces of jewellery once worn by members of the House of Bonaparte. Their monetary value is estimated at €88m (around £76.8m), while their historical value has been described as “inestimable”.
The stolen artefacts
The eight items taken in the raid on 19 October Musée du Louvre
- A tiara and a large corsage bow brooch that belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
- An emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon’s second wife.
- A tiara, necklace and single earring from a sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie, the last Queen of France, and Queen Hortense, the Queen of Holland and the wife of King Louis Bonaparte.
- A brooch known as the “reliquary brooch”
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