The Louvre was again closed to tourists this week, months after a band of jewelry thieves made headlines for stealing jewels worth $102 million.
The museum has been contending with labor strikes since last summer, a situation the heist made more complicated. As a result, the doors to the world-famous art house have been intermittently shut in the months that have followed.
Guests who attempted to visit the Louvre this week were greeted with signs that read simply, “Dear visitors, due to a social movement, the Louvre Museum is exceptionally closed today. Visitors who have booked tickets for today will be automatically refunded — no action required on your part. We thank you for your understanding.”
Why Louvre employees are refusing to show up at work
Staff at the Louvre staged their ninth strike in a month on Monday, January 19. Per The Art Newspaper, their chief concerns are about pay and working conditions. “The [workers ’] movement does not show any sign of weakness—the strike was voted unanimously by 350 employees,” Christian Galani, a representative of the CGT Union told the outlet.
The Louvre typically receives approximately 30,000 visitors per day and union reps told The Art Newspaper the museum loses €400,000 ($469,549) each day it’s closed.
Employees are demanding pay that is equal to what’s received at other national monuments and museums in France. Galani also told the newspaper, “There are differences [in salary] ranging from €70 to €200 euros monthly.” The museum’s staff are also demanding that two costly plans — a new €666m entrance and a new subterranean complex around the Mona Lisa — be axed in favor of tending to basic maintenance of the museum as a whole.
Authorities still haven’t solved the October 2025 heist
Several arrests have been made in connection with the October 2025 museum heist, but authorities have yet to recover the jewels taken.
Footage of the heist was broadcast on French TV for the first time this week. The vido, which aired on public television channels in the country, showed two burglars forcing their way into the Apollo Gallery. The pair appeared to use disc cutters to gain access to the gallery and its exhibits — and cut into the cases housing the jewels as employees watched.
Per CBS News, a museum audit also revealed around 35% of the jewels in that section of the Louvre were not actively monitored by security cameras. The jewels in question were not privately insured, which is required by French law.
French authorities currently have four suspects in custody. The Louvre has since installed metal bars over the windows of the Apollo Gallery.
