October 19th will be forever etched in the history of the Louvre Museum. In less than eight minutes, two men using a mechanical lift to reach the Apollo Gallery broke through a window and made off with an extraordinary haul: jewelry belonging to Queen Marie-Amélie, Queen Hortense, and Empress Eugénie, valued at approximately 88 million euros. This spectacular heist, worthy of a Hollywood screenplay, revealed an equally spectacular fact: security at the world's most visited museum is not a priority for those responsible for its protection.
Despite welcoming 8.7 million visitors in 2024 with daily peaks of 30,000 people, the Louvre remains a cultural giant. However, the museum's security situation is problematic, despite assurances from Culture Minister Rachida Dati to the contrary. The French Court of Auditors, in its November 2025 report, presents an alarming diagnosis of the institution's priorities and management practices.
Between 2018 and 2024, the museum allocated only 86.2 million euros in total for maintenance (26.7 million) and renovation (59.5 million) of the palace, which includes security measures. In stark contrast, significantly more money—168.9 million euros in total—was devoted to redesigning the museum's visitor experience (63.5 million) and acquiring new artworks (105.4 million). In other words, the "prestige" budget is twice as large as funding for all other essential operations.
According to Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Court of Auditors, "The Louvre's problem does not stem from a reduction in its resources. The problem lies elsewhere—it's about the orientation of its objectives." This misallocation of priorities has created a dangerous vulnerability in one of France's most treasured cultural institutions.
The October 2025 theft highlighted a governance crisis as much as a security failure. Laurence des Cars, the museum's president, had acknowledged before the Senate that she was "appalled by the state of safety and security" upon her arrival at the end of 2021. The security systems are outdated, with virtually nothing done in recent years to modernize them.
An audit conducted between 2015 and 2017 resulted in a comprehensive security master plan, but the Louvre dedicated only 3 million euros to implementing it—merely 4% of the estimated total cost of 83 million euros. "The theft of the Crown Jewels is, without a doubt, a deafening alarm bell," Moscovici stated, emphasizing the severity of the security breach.
The human element of security is equally strained. In 2019, agents from DAPS (Direction of Reception and Surveillance) exercised their right to withdraw from work during the renovation of the States Room, revealing long-standing workplace issues and adding costs (the renovation increased from 1.15 million to 1.81 million euros). In the Denon Wing, where crowds press to glimpse the Mona Lisa, staff work at the limits of saturation, according to the Court's findings.
The maximum capacity of 30,000 visitors per day, established in 2022 to improve security, was set without proper flow studies, which both complicates and weakens crowd management. This arbitrary limit reflects the broader lack of systematic planning that characterizes the museum's approach to visitor safety and security.
One might assume that despite a reduction of approximately 100 agents between 2019 and 2024 (from 1,343 to 1,237), the staffing levels for public reception and surveillance are adequate for the museum's needs. These positions represent more than 50% of full-time equivalent positions and total staff at the institution. However, this appears not to be the case.
The Louvre is certainly not an institution lacking resources, and the Court rejects any excuse of budget shortage. "The Louvre has money, quite a bit of money," Pierre Moscovici affirmed, adding emphatically, "The argument about insufficient means doesn't hold up." During the 2018-2024 period, the museum's own resources represented 60% of its financial resources, with ticket sales alone bringing in 125 million euros in 2024.
The problem lies in how these resources are utilized. Between 2018 and 2024, the Louvre spent 105.4 million euros of its own resources (out of a total of 145.2 million euros) to acquire 2,754 artworks, of which fewer than one in four is currently on display. The Court suggests revising the statutory rule that reserves 20% of ticket revenue for acquisitions, allowing for reallocation toward maintenance and security.
This raises a fundamental question: by what aberration has the museum been able to accumulate acquisitions knowing they could not be effectively protected? More broadly, the report reveals that 509,069 works are registered in the Louvre's inventory, but only 5.6% are exhibited. Nearly 450,000 pieces remain in storage, with 236,713 at the conservation center in Liévin and 212,000 within the palace itself. These figures make the conclusion even more obvious: the focus should no longer be on expanding collections but on managing existing ones.
Meanwhile, administrative costs have grown substantially. Between 2018 and 2024, the museum president's cabinet expanded from three to six staff members, contrary to ministerial recommendations aimed at controlling certain expenses. Simultaneously, the general management's payroll jumped by 43% (from 1.55 to 2.21 million euros), without any corresponding improvement in governance being observed.
The Court's findings show that personnel expenses increased by approximately 25 million euros between 2018-2024, representing an average progression of 3.3% per year. "The evolution of the payroll is explained by increases in wages and salaries, with an average annual increase of 2.7% (9.2 million over the period), as well as by a more sustained increase in bonuses and allowances, with an annual growth rate of 7.6% (7.1 million over the period)," the report states. This payroll progression exceeds both the index point revaluation of 0.8% per year and the inflation rate, estimated at 2.4% annually.
Specific examples of questionable spending include the renewal of the president's office furniture in 2021, which cost 40,000 euros including tax, while the general administrator's office renovation was billed at 12,296.06 euros. In 2022, several other general management offices were renovated for a total cost of 165,000 euros including tax, encompassing the redesign of three offices, a corridor, and restrooms over a 100-square-meter area.
The situation presents a troubling paradox: a cultural jewel endowed with immense potential but handicapped by deficient management, poorly controlled finances, excessive spending, and neglected security and preservation of treasures. Would it be inappropriate to see some resemblance here to a situation we all suffer from on a national scale? The Louvre's challenges reflect broader issues of institutional priorities and resource management that extend far beyond the museum's walls, raising questions about how France's most precious cultural assets are protected and preserved for future generations.
