Although the value of eight artifacts stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is estimated to exceed 14 billion won, the Louvre appears unlikely to receive compensation for the loss.
According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 21st local time, a Spokesperson for the French Ministry of Culture said in a statement sent to the daily Le Parisien that "the state cannot be compensated for the loss of jewelry with immeasurable historical value and heritage," adding, "the artifacts in question were not covered by private insurance."
The Spokesperson explained, "When the collection of a national museum is in its usual place of preservation, the state itself serves as the insurer." That is because art insurance premiums are extremely expensive while actual claim rates are low. For this reason, major public museums around the world, including the Louvre, generally do not insure items on routine display.
In fact, more than 100 pieces of jewelry were stolen from the Dresden State Art Collections in Germany in 2019, but they were not insured at the time either. Saxony, where the Dresden museum is located, explained that "as a long-term practice, we do not take out insurance because premiums are higher than anticipated losses."
By contrast, private museums such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation or the Pinault Collection often carry commercial insurance. In 2019, at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Churchill and owned by the Dukes of Marlborough, Maurizio Cattelan's work America (nicknamed "the golden toilet") was stolen, and the piece was insured for $6 million (about 8.6 billion won) at the time, the Associated Press reported.
The incident occurred in the Apollo Gallery inside the Louvre Museum. On the 19th, the perpetrators broke into the gallery displaying French royal jewelry and, in just seven minutes, made off with nine items, including an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave to Empress Marie-Louise, and the crown and brooch of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. Of these, one item—the crown of Empress Eugénie—was recovered near the museum in damaged condition.
Romain Deschulettes, head of French art insurer Seres Assurances, said in an interview with CBS News, "Under French law, national institutions like the Louvre cannot purchase insurance for their collections unless they lend or move them to an external institution," adding, "collections of national museums are not eligible for insurance unless they leave the museum."
In addition, the Louvre's collection is so vast that obtaining commercial insurance is effectively impossible. The Louvre holds many world-renowned works, including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the Sphinx of Tanis.
Charlie Horell, art specialist director at Marsh, an insurance broker, told the FT, "The Louvre's vast collection would overwhelm the entire London insurance market, and objectively valuing it is impossible in itself."
Meanwhile, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, who is currently investigating the case, said in an interview with France's RTL radio that "according to the Louvre curator's estimate, the stolen items are worth about 88 million euros (about 146 billion won)." The prosecutor said it was "an enormous amount of damage," adding, "the greater loss lies in France's historical cultural heritage."