Louvre Reopens Apollo Gallery Empty After 2025 Jewel Heist

The Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum in Paris will reopen to the public on July 22, 2026, but the hall that once displayed the French crown jewels will remain conspicuously empty. The decision follows a brazen daylight heist on October 19, 2025, in which eight priceless jewels were stolen and remain missing, forcing a fundamental rethinking of security and display for the museum's surviving treasures.

The gallery's reopening marks the end of a nine-month closure that began immediately after the theft. Museum President Christophe Leribault confirmed that all remaining precious objects have been removed from the hall. Instead of jewel cases, visitors will encounter the gallery in its original 17th-century function as a state reception room, invited to appreciate its Baroque architecture and decorative artistry. The space, initially designed by architect Louis Le Vau and decorated by painter Charles Le Brun under King Louis XIV, features ornate stucco work and a ceiling centerpiece by Eugène Delacroix.

The theft itself was a meticulously planned operation. On the morning of October 19, 2025, robbers disguised as construction workers used a truck-mounted lift to access the...