Louvre closes gallery due to structural issue

 

The Louvre museum in Paris has announced it is closing one of its galleries because of structural weaknesses.

The Campana Gallery - consisting of nine rooms which host Greek ceramics - will remain shut as engineers investigate "certain beams supporting the floors", the Louvre said.

The announcement adds to the museum's unwelcome attention following a high-profile heist last month in which jewels worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken.

Criticism has focused on lax security at the world's most-visited museum in the French capital.

Four people have been arrested over the heist, but the jewels have not been recovered.

In a statement on Monday, the Louvre said that structural issues in offices on the second floor - above the Campana Gallery in the Sully wing of the museum - had led to its decision.

"During these investigations, the Campana Gallery... will be closed to the public as a precautionary measure.

On the day of the heist, the suspects arrived at 09:30 (07:30 GMT), just after the museum opened to visitors.

The suspects arrived with a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d'Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine. The men used a disc cutter to crack open display cases housing the jewellery.

Prosecutors said the thieves were inside for four minutes and made their escape on two scooters waiting outside at 09:38, before switching to cars.

One of the stolen items - a crown - was dropped during the escape. The other seven jewels have not been found.

The fear is that they have already been spirited abroad, though the prosecutor in charge of the case has said she is still hopeful they can be retrieved intact.

Those arrested over the heist that shocked France were all petty criminals rather than organised crime professionals, Paris's prosecutor has said.

Since the incident, security measures have been tightened around France's cultural institutions.

The Louvre has even transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France.

Three weeks after the jewel theft, a report was released in which the Court of Auditors criticised managers who had preferred to invest in new artworks and exhibitions rather than basic upkeep and protection of the museum.

Basing its findings on the years 2018-24, the report found the museum had spent €105.4m (£92.7m) on buying new artworks and €63.5m on exhibition spaces.

But at the same time it spent only €26.7m on maintenance works, and €59.5m on restoration of the palace building.