France's Louvre Museum ‘at breaking point’ due to aging infrastructure, new director warns

The new head of France's Louvre Museum warned Wednesday that the world's most visited museum is "at breaking point" due to aging infrastructure and mounting investment needs.

"We can say it without ambiguity ... the Louvre is at breaking point,” Christophe Leribault told the French Senate's Culture Committee.

He noted that the institution was facing major structural and technical challenges, nearly four months after taking office as the museum's president-director.

On Oct. 19, a group of thieves parked a stolen truck outside the Louvre Museum, used a furniture lift to reach the first floor, and broke into one of the museum’s most ornate rooms.

Within minutes, they fled on scooters with royal jewels, including an emerald and diamond necklace once given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Austria’s Marie-Louise, and a diadem belonging to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

Former Louvre president-director Laurence des Cars, who had led the institution for five years, was subsequently replaced by Leribault.

"The equipment and infrastructure are reaching the end of their cycle. We are at a crossroads," he added, warning that the museum faces a "wall of investments."

Leribault said technical installations linked to the Grand Louvre redevelopment project of the 1980s are showing signs of severe deterioration, while several parts of the historic complex require extensive renovation.

He pointed in particular to buildings surrounding the Cour Carree, the Louvre's historic central courtyard and structural issues in the Sully Wing along the Seine River.

"The fragility of the beams on the second floor led to the evacuation of the offices of two departments in November," he said, noting that the Campana Gallery had also been closed as a precaution.

According to Leribault, museum staff are now working to secure more than 10,000 Greek vases housed in the affected areas.

He described the situation as symptomatic of the urgent renovation work needed to preserve both the collections and the museum's operations.