Louvre's Apollo Gallery reopens empty nine months after $100 million jewel heist
The Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum reopened on Wednesday, stripped of its crown jewels and display cases, nine months after thieves used a truck-mounted lift and angle grinders to steal eight pieces worth more than $100 million.
The reopening
On Wednesday morning, the gilded doors of the Apollo Gallery swung open for the first time since October 19, 2025. The room, one of the most ornate in the former royal palace, was empty: no display cases, no crown jewels. Museum director Christophe Leribault told journalists that the gallery was returning to its original 17th-century function as a promenade.
It's not an empty gallery, it's the gallery in its use, in its function of the 17th century, of strolling.
Culture minister Catherine Pégard added that visitors previously "didn't always look up at its decor, drawn as we were by the crown jewels."
The heist
On October 19, 2025, four men disguised as workers parked a truck with a cherry picker on the Seine-side quay, lifted themselves to the gallery's balcony, and used angle grinders to break into two display cases. In minutes, they stole eight crown jewels, including a pearl-and-diamond tiara belonging to Empress Eugénie and an emerald-and-diamond necklace. The museum estimated the loss at €88 million ($100 million). The tiara was later found damaged near the museum and is under restoration. The other seven pieces remain missing. Suspects were arrested, but the stolen objects have not been recovered.
- Four men steal eight crown jewels worth €88 million from the Apollo Gallery.
- The gallery reopens empty, without display cases or jewels.
Security fallout
The heist exposed serious security gaps at the world's most visited museum, which welcomed 9 million visitors in 2025. A 2019 audit had already flagged vulnerabilities in the gallery. The outdated video surveillance system and insufficient staffing drew sharp criticism. The scandal triggered an internal crisis: staff held strikes in December 2025 over deteriorating working conditions, forcing the museum to close for several days. Then-director Laurence des Cars resigned. A parliamentary commission later noted that security at the Louvre had been relegated to a secondary priority. The museum also faced other problems: the Campana Gallery was closed due to risk of beam collapse, and a water leak in the Egyptian antiquities library damaged between 300 and 400 historical documents.
Visitor reactions
Early visitors on Wednesday expressed a mix of awe and disappointment. Benjamin Randow, a 64-year-old retired civil servant, said he was happy to be back but found the room "disconcertingly barren."
It's magnificent, just as I remembered.
Alison Leslie, a retired police officer from Edinburgh, came specially for the reopening. Jenny Lee, a guide for Korean tourists, photographed the new metal grille blocking the balcony, calling it "a new story for the gallery." Gilda Valorc, 64, who knew the gallery before the theft, found it "empty, very empty," and hoped the jewels would one day return, like the Mona Lisa after its 1911 theft. The window where the thieves entered has become a pilgrimage site for selfies.
What's next
The surviving crown jewels have been removed from the gallery and will eventually be displayed in a new secure room, described by Leribault as a "windowless vault" elsewhere in the museum. The project requires significant funding and construction work. For now, the Apollo Gallery will remain empty, inviting visitors to appreciate its architecture and painted ceilings by Charles Le Brun and Eugène Delacroix. Leribault compared the space to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, calling it "our Galerie des Glaces."
