The crown of France’s empress Eugénie, whose husband Napoleon III ruled the country in the 19th century, was one of nine invaluable royal ornaments snatched by burglars during their audacious heist of the Louvre last October.
It was the only one they left behind. The thieves dropped the royal headdress, adorned with eight sculpted gold eagles and decorated lavishly with emeralds and diamonds, on the pavement outside the museum before making their escape.
More than three months later, the Louvre has published photographs showing how bad the damage was.
The palm-like diamond-encrusted arches of the crown have been yanked off or bent, its bejewelled cross lies toppled to one side, and one of its golden eagles is missing.
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The Louvre announced it will soon invite restorers to submit proposals for the crown’s repair, a process that will be supervised by a newly formed committee of experts.
The museum’s decorative arts director, Olivier Gabet, said the museum staff didn’t know how much the restoration would cost, but were starting with an estimate of €40,000. Since almost all the of the parts had been found, the real cost will be in the hours of delicate repair work, he said.
The world’s biggest and most visited museum, the Louvre is still reeling from the burglary, which occurred 30 minutes after the museum had opened and revealed flaws in the Louvre’s outdated security system and ageing infrastructure.
France’s culture minister appointed an outside expert to investigate the museum’s failings, and strikes by the Louvre’s unions have forced the building to fully or partially close about a dozen times. The Apollo Gallery, where the crown jewels were held, remains closed to visitors.
A criminal investigation involving more than 100 police officers has led to five people being charged with involvement. But apart from the empress’ crown, none of the jewels have been found.
Eugénie’s crown is one of the small collection of French crown jewels that remain in the state’s possession. Many were stolen after the French Revolution began in 1789, and the bulk of the rest was auctioned off by the French state in a surge of republican fervour in 1887. Eugénie’s crown was acquired by the museum in 1988.
The crown was half of a set commissioned by Napoleon III, France’s last emperor and a nephew of Napoleon, for him and his wife to wear at the opening of the 1855 “universal exhibition” in Paris. Overseen by the emperor’s official jeweller, it was fashioned with 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the Louvre.
After Napoleon III was captured by Prussia and lost control of France, Empress Eugénie fled to England, leaving the crown behind. But she successfully sued the French Republic to get it back and later bequeathed it to her godchild, princess Marie-Clotilde Napoléon, who was living in Belgium.
A report by Louvre specialists said the crown had likely been crushed as the burglars yanked it through a small slit cut in its reinforced glass case during the heist and further damaged by the impact of its fall during their escape. In the process, four of its palms, decorated with diamonds and emeralds, were detached and one fell to the floor.
About 10 of the 1,354 diamonds are missing, according to the Louvre report, along with the one golden eagle, which “is probably somewhere with the other pieces that were stolen, and perhaps we will find them one day,” Gabet added.
Gabet said he expected the crown, which has become a symbol of hope since its theft and “miraculous” recovery, to be restored by the end of the year and presented to the public, “at the Louvre obviously”.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
