Camilla Jessen
The Louvre has been robbed before — and it keeps happening.
The Louvre Museum in Paris, home to some of the world’s most treasured artworks, has once again found itself at the center of a robbery.
On October 19, 2025, thieves made off with jewelry worth €87 million in just seven minutes during opening hours. The stolen items once belonged to the French imperial family.
The daylight heist shocked the French public and reignited questions about the museum’s security.
But this was not the first time the Louvre has been targeted — far from it.
Theft that made the Mona Lisa famous
Perhaps the most infamous robbery in the museum’s history happened in 1911.
Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian craftsman, walked into the museum in work clothes and walked out with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa hidden under his coat.
The painting was missing for a full 24 hours before anyone noticed.
A massive international manhunt followed, but it took two years before Peruggia was arrested while trying to sell the painting to a museum in Florence.
Ironically, the theft catapulted the Mona Lisa into global fame — before then, it was not the icon it is today.
Other notable heists
The Mona Lisa was just the beginning, according to the Historie magazine.
In 1976, masked thieves climbed scaffolding to steal a sword once owned by King Charles X.
In 1990, a Renoir painting was cut from its frame and taken in broad daylight. Eight years later, a Camille Corot painting met the same fate.
Despite multiple security upgrades, the Louvre remains a target.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
