The Louvre heist: Security flaws and deeper cracks at France’s top museum

An emblematic monument of French culture, the Louvre Museum embodies nearly 9,000 years of history and houses more than 600,000 works of art across over 70,000 square metres of gallery space. It is the most visited museum in the world, welcoming around nine million visitors each year – well beyond the capacity for which it was originally designed. In recent years, the institution has been shaken by a series of crises, including a major robbery, fraud and labour tensions.