![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/697177\/original\/file-20251020-56-ul1s07.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip\")
<\/a><\/p>\n Jewels of Empress Eug\u00e9nie photographed in 2020. The diadem, left, and diamond bow brooch, right, have been stolen. The crown, centre, was stolen but has been recovered.
\n Stephanie de Sakutin\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The best-case scenario, from the thieves\u2019 perspective, is to break them down, melt the precious metals and sell the gems separately.<\/p>\n
Empress Eugenie\u2019s crown, which the perpetrators took and subsequently dropped<\/a> as they fled the scene on motor scooters, contains<\/a> eight gold eagles, 1,354 brilliant-cut diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds. In short, this amounts to a sizeable stash of individual gems to try and sell.<\/p>\n Timing is everything<\/p>\n For the Louvre, any heist is a major blow. It calls into question their security, both electronic and human. Five security staff were nearby who acted to protect visitors and the alarms did ring, but the entire heist was completed within seven minutes. <\/p>\n Timing is crucial with heists. <\/p>\n America, a fully functioning toilet made of 18-karat solid gold, on display here at the Guggenheim in 2017. In 2019, an 18-karat gold toilet titled America (2016), from the artist Maurizio Cattelan, was stolen<\/a> from Blenheim Palace, England. It was taken in five and a half minutes. It weighed 98 kilograms and was fully functioning. In other words, the two men who took it (and were later caught and served prison sentences<\/a> for their crimes) worked quickly and efficiently. At the time of the theft, as gold bullion it was estimated to be valued at A$6 million.<\/p>\n Van Gogh\u2019s painting The Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring (1884) was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum, in the Netherlands, during their 2020 COVID closure. It was recovered in late 2023<\/a> after an investigation by Dutch art detective Arthur Brand.<\/p>\n Chieftainess Ngatai\u2013Raure and Chief Ngatai-Raure, painted by Gottfried Lindauer in 1884. The 2017 theft of two Gottfried Lindauer paintings from Auckland\u2019s International Art Centre took just a few minutes to complete<\/a>. The thieves ram-raided the front window of the auction house where the paintings, valued at NZ$1 million, were displayed. The portraits were recovered<\/a> five years later through an intermediary, with only minor damage.<\/p>\n Recovering the stolen<\/p>\n The National Gallery of Victoria\u2019s Picasso painting Weeping Woman (1937) was famously taken<\/a> by the Australian Cultural Terrorists in 1986 \u2013 but only noticed as missing two days later. <\/p>\n Recovered just over two weeks later, the painting was left for the gallery staff to collect in a locker at Spencer Street railway station. The motivation behind the theft was to highlight the lack of financial support given to Victorian artists, but the true identity of the thieves remains a mystery.<\/p>\n The National Gallery of Victoria\u2019s Picasso painting Weeping Woman (1937) was famously taken \u2013 and recovered \u2013 in 1986. In 1986, 26 paintings of religious subjects were stolen<\/a> from the gallery at the Benedictine Monastery at New Norcia, Western Australia. <\/p>\n The thieves were poor planners: they hadn\u2019t factored in that three men and the stash of paintings couldn\u2019t fit into a Ford Falcon. The paintings were cut from their frames, ostensibly butchered. One was completely destroyed. The thieves were caught and charged. <\/p>\n Where to next for the thief?<\/p>\n Recovery of objects from heists is low. It\u2019s impossible to put a number on but some say art recoveries globally are possibly as low as 10%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paintings are more difficult to sell on \u2013 you can\u2019t change their physical appearance to the point of not being recognised.<\/p>\n However, with objects such as the gold toilet or jewels, the precious materials and gems can be repurposed. Time will tell if the Napoleonic jewels will be recovered.<\/p>\n Never say never. The Mona Lisa (1503), undoubtedly the main attraction at the Louvre, was stolen in 1911<\/a> and recovered two years later. The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, was an Italian handyman working at the Louvre and was caught trying to sell it.<\/p>\n The ceremony for the return to France of the Mona Lisa, Rome, 1913. This latest heist at the Louvre highlights the vulnerability of objects in public collections. The irony being they\u2019re often gifted to such institutions for safekeeping. <\/p>\n Those who guard objects are usually paid a minimum wage<\/a> and yet they are tasked with a huge responsibility. When budget cuts are made, it\u2019s often security staff that are reduced \u2013 such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales\u2019 announcement just last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n The thieves on Sunday knew what they were after and why. We aren\u2019t privy to their motivation. We know the stolen jewels are part of France\u2019s history and are irreplaceable. Their theft denies visitors of experiencing them individually for their beauty and craftsmanship, as well as collectively within the context of France\u2019s history. <\/p>\n But part of me can\u2019t help thinking how the French were partial<\/a> to helping themselves to artworks and precious objects belonging to others. So perhaps this could be a case of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n MossAlbatross\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n EPA\/New Zealand Police Handout<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n AAP Image\/Diego Fedele<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Mondadori via Getty Images<\/p>\n