Breaking: Louvre Robbed, Crown Jewels Stolen

Empress Eugénie’s Diamond Bow Brooch among major artifacts nabbed in daylight raid.

The appointed guardians of France’s glorious cultural heritage have done a poor job in recent years. In the spring of 2019, the Church of Saint-Sulpice and Notre Dame Cathedral suffered extensive fire damage. The former was attributed to arson; the latter to a freak accident (I have my doubts about the latter explanation).

Now comes the news that thieves broke into the Louvre museum today (October 19) and stole several objects from the Crown Jewel collection. According to AP:

In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre ’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.

The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security.

The theft unfolded just 250 meters (270 yards) from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional “four-minute operation.”

One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said. It was reportedly recovered broken. . . .

Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; Empress Eugénie’s diadem; and her large corsage-bow brooch — a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.

The Empress Eugénie’s large corsage (bodice) bow brooch was an especially valuable item. Eugénie was a Spanish Aristocrat who married Emperor Napoleon III, and is thought to be the last Royal personage to have a direct and immediate influence on fashion, helping to launch the careers of Cartier and Boucheron, Louis Vuitton, and Charles Frederick Worth.

Corsage (Bodice) Bow Brooch

I love France and have many old French friends, but I often marvel that a people who have inherited such a splendid cultural patrimony have struggled so mightily to maintain it—never mind to extend it. Most of the great French writers, artists, and fashion designers of the 20th century were born before World War II. To give just one example, Yves Saint Laurant was born in 1936.

In the realm of medical science, Professor Didier Raoult exudes some of the old power and glory of France—as I noted in my essay “We Are the Good Guys”—but he has been relentlessly persecuted by the idiot government in Paris, which seems determined to extinguish great spirits like his.

As I noted in my essay a few days ago, The End of Britain, France, and Germany, it’s tempting to think that the spirit of France—as well as that of Great Britain and Germany—was killed by the Great War of 1914-1918.

Since Napoleon’s disastrous wars of 1803-1815, France has been repeatedly weakened by war. In the midst of the Emperor Napoleon III’s ruinous war against Prussia in 1870—which he could have easily averted—he and his Empress Eugénie were forced to abdicate and go into exile in Britain. The Empress was aided in flight by an American dentist in Paris named Dr. Thomas Evans.

Now the governments of France and Great Britain are again beating the drums for a senseless war against Russia. I suggest they focus their efforts and resources on taking better care of their own countries.