The Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum will reopen to the public on Wednesday, nine months after the spectacular robbery that led to its closure. Visitors will once again be able to admire its paintings, sculptures, and gilded decorations, but the display cases and jewelry that were exhibited there have been completely removed.
A gallery returned to the public, but stripped of its precious collections
The collections and precious objects still housed in the gallery after the theft have been moved. The space will now return to its historical function as a "state gallery," focused on its architecture and monumental decor rather than the display of jewels. The Minister of Culture, Catherine Pégard, is expected to attend the reopening. Christophe Leribault, president of the Louvre Museum, confirmed the removal of the precious works and the change in the gallery's function.
Eight jewels stolen in broad daylight
On October 19, 2025, a commando unit broke into the Apollo Gallery using a truck equipped with a cherry picker. The perpetrators reached the windows from the outside before entering the museum in broad daylight. Eight French Crown Jewels were stolen. Their total value was estimated at 88 million euros by the Louvre. The jewels remain missing nine months after the theft. The robbery led to the immediate closure of the museum, followed by a prolonged closure of the gallery. The museum reopened a few days later, but the room affected by the theft remained inaccessible to the public throughout the investigation, repairs, and security measures.
The remaining jewelry was placed elsewhere
The pieces that were not stolen will not return to the Apollo Gallery. The Louvre plans to dedicate a new, highly secure, windowless room to them, located in another part of the museum. This future "vault" will require significant construction work. Its final location has not yet been announced, and funding remains to be secured. No specific date has been given for the public display of the relocated jewels.
A royal setting designed for Louis XIV
The Apollo Gallery remains one of the Louvre's most remarkable artistic ensembles. After the fire that destroyed the Petite Galerie in 1661, Louis XIV entrusted its reconstruction to the architect Louis Le Vau. Charles Le Brun then conceived a vast decorative scheme dedicated to the sun, the emblem chosen by the young sovereign. The gallery served as a model for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Long left unfinished, it was completed in the 19th century, notably by Eugène Delacroix, author of the immense composition Apollo, victor over the serpent Python installed in the center of the ceiling.
A reopening that definitively turns the page on the old shop windows.
Before the break-in, three display cases installed in 2019 presented the Crown Jewels organized by major historical periods: the Ancien Régime, the First Empire and the Restoration, and then the Second Empire. They had replaced equipment that had become obsolete and difficult to operate. By Wednesday, these displays will be gone. The public will therefore once again be able to admire the Apollo Gallery for its decorations, but not for the diamonds and jewels that had made this room one of the most precious spaces in the Louvre.
