Art expert walks through what might happen next after broad daylight Louvre heist
An Aussie art dealer has offered a stunning theory about who could end up buying the stolen Louvre jewellery - and the true value of the ‘priceless’ artefacts.
‘Priceless’ royal jewels that were stolen from the Louvre will likely end up in the hands of a “vain” private collector or on the black market, according to a respected Australian art dealer.
A team of 60 French investigators are working on the theory that an organised crime group was behind the brazen daytime heist at the art museum in Paris on Sunday morning.
Masked thieves carried out the robbery in just seven minutes, breaking into the building via a furniture lift armed with chainsaws before fleeing on high-powered scooters.
Sydney-based dealer Leigh Capel, of Belle Epoque Fine Arts, said there were typically three categories of buyers who would be interested in the stolen artefacts.
“They may be people who are unsuspecting of the crime itself and bought the items not knowing they are stolen, or they inherit these items,” he told news.com.au.
“Ultimately, these items will eventually show up at auction as they have previously.
“That other type of buyer could be an experienced collector who has commissioned a group of professionals to construct this heist and steal very specific items for their collection, not to be shown around, more for their vanity.
“And the other type, the criminals who will steal these items for buyers who are on the black market. They’re waiting for items of incredible worth or cultural value to be purchased for the reason that they can be used as collateral down the track.”
Capel pointed to a notorious 2002 break-in at the van Gogh Museum as an example.
“For example, similar to the Louvre, in 2002, two career criminals broke into the van Gogh Museum and stole two extremely valuable van Gogh paintings, which they took to the black market,” he said.
“Now, the following year, in 2003, they sold those two paintings for an estimated $500,000 AUD, which was only a fraction of the market worth of $6 million AUD.
“And although these two criminals were detained the following year, the paintings themselves went missing until 2016, when a member of the Camorra crime family, who was in exile in the UAE, volunteered to return the two paintings to the van Gogh Museum with hopes of getting leniency on a 20-year prison sentence for cocaine dealing back in Italy.
“Now, unfortunately for him, instead of going along with it, they decided to raid his mother’s house in Naples and found the two artworks hidden in a wall in her home. The paintings have since been returned to the van Gogh Museum, and they’re on display to this day.”
French authorities have backed up Capel’s theory.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said authorities were investigating whether the heist was commissioned by a collector.
“We’re looking at the hypothesis of organised crime,” she told BFM TV, adding that it could be professionals working on spec for a buyer.
If a collector was behind Sunday’s daring raid, there is at least a good chance that the stolen pieces would still be in a good state once they’re tracked down and retrieved, Beccuau said.
“Nowadays, anything can be linked to drug trafficking, given the significant sums of money obtained from drug trafficking,” she said.
How did they get away with it?
Capel warned that despite it containing some of the world’s most expensive and revered masterpieces, the Louvre had long been vulnerable to crime.
“For over 100 years, the Louvre has been a hotbed for crime and heists,” he said.
“Because it is so accessible, the most famous case being the Mona Lisa, which was stolen in 1911, this huge building is unprotected by fences or gates, and most of the facade backs straight onto open areas, making it easily accessible for people to raise a ladder to the second story or the first story and pop through a window.”
After several other robberies from French museums in recent months, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged that securing them was a “major weak spot”.
Capel saod that guards were often focused on protecting the Louvre’s most iconic works, leaving quieter wings more exposed to cunning thieves.
“The security guards inside [are] the most distracted by the most famous paintings in the institution, while in the outside wings there is not as much security,” he said.
“Would-be thieves cased these areas to see if there’s any quiet moments in which they can commit these heists and obviously, in this situation, these particular professional criminals have sought out a particular wing and select demand of items that they could take with the least amount of stress.
“And security guards of the Louvre, (they’re) not properly equipped to approach and detain would-be thieves … they’re carrying an angle grinder, so it’s important that they have more security protecting the outside wings of the building. It’s a problem that’s happened multiple times over the years where heists have occurred.”
How much are these “priceless” items really worth?
The masked thieves dropped and damaged the crown of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, as they made their escape.
It is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the museum’s website.
But eight priceless items of jewellery remain missing, according to the culture ministry.
The list they released included an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise.
Also stolen was a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds, and a necklace that once belonged to Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France. It is adorned with eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, according to the Louvre’s website.
Although reports have described the stolen pieces as “priceless,” Mr Capel said each had a clear insurance value.
“Although they’re being reported as priceless, they do indeed have an insurance value,” Capel explained.
“They range across the eight items. Some of the lesser valuable items are worth tens of thousands, while some of the more valuable items, such as the Empress’s tiara, are worth in the tens of millions. Not only do these items have a monetary value, they also have an immense historical, cultural, and heritage value to France.”
The fate of the eight stolen items remains uncertain.
“Now, what potentially can happen to these eight stolen items from the looters?” Capel continued.
“They could disappear into the black market, where they may be sold numerous times and never see the light of day again.
“Or they could appear on the secondary market through unknowing buyers who have bought in good faith, not knowing these items are stolen, and hence they will be reported and returned at a later date.
“Or, unfortunately, they may be broken down for the material value — the gems, the stones, the precious metals. And unfortunately, they’ll be destroyed forever, which would be devastating for the French public.”
- With AFP
