Paris – The embattled head of Paris's Louvre Museum has promised a bigger police presence, including inside the museum, and security cameras to prevent future thefts, following last month's €87 million jewel heist.
Appearing before MPs on Wednesday, the director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, announced new security measures – while also acknowledging criticism over the 19 October daytime raid on the world’s most-visited museum.
“I accept responsibility for the failure represented by the theft on 19 October,” she said. “It is an immense wound that has been inflicted upon us. I feel it deeply.”
Following a meeting with the head of the Paris police department, she said around 20 emergency measures would be introduced, including officers being stationed inside the Louvre and 100 new security cameras installed around the museum.
The loss of jewels worth more than €87 million – which are yet to be recovered – exposed gaps in CCTV coverage and the inability of police to quickly reach certain parts of the vast former royal palace.
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The Louvre's security shortcomings were underscored again last week when two Belgian TikTok pranksters managed to pin their own portrait next to the Mona Lisa without being stopped by museum staff.
"We constantly face incidents in the rooms of the Louvre," the museum’s director told MPs, while insisting her staff remained "vigilant".
'Not a good state'
Adding to its current woes, the Louvre announced the temporary closure on Monday of one of its galleries due to safety concerns over the ceiling.
The incident underlined the dilapidated state of some of the museum's structures, as well as the challenges of welcoming millions of people every year to a building that mostly dates back to the Renaissance era.
Des Cars used her appearance on Wednesday to defend a renovation plan of €700 to €800 million announced by President Emmanuel Macron in January this year.
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Culture Minister Rachida Dati said on Tuesday that structural problems, as illustrated by the closure of the Campana Gallery housing Greek pottery, were not surprising.
"To bring this museum completely up to standard and fully restore it, it would almost need to be closed permanently," she told the BFM news channel.
"[But] we don't want to deprive visitors, and we also don't want to deprive the staff of their work. We are forced to do it in stages," she explained.
"The building is not in a good state," chief Louvre architect Francois Chatillon told MPs on Wednesday, saying there were "a bunch of patch-ups that are at the end of their lifespans".
(with AFP)
