PARIS (AP) — A glittering exhibition of the royal jewels opens in Paris on Wednesday, although the city is still reeling from brazen crown jewel heist in the nearby Louvre.
The four-minute operation in October emptied display cases at the Louvre's Apollo Gallery, forced its closure and undermined public confidence in the French gallery. cultural safety.
With the looted gallery still closed, another museum nearby displays diamonds and tiaras that survived revolutions, exile and empire: treasures that escaped the kind of plunder that now plagues the Louvre's jewels.
Loaded location
The Dynastic Jewels exhibition at the Hôtel de la Marine – site of the infamous theft of the Crown Jewels in 1792 – opens at a moment of national sensitivity.
The exhibition, housed in four galleries, features more than a hundred exhibits that amaze with their brilliance and scale. His items come from the Al Thani collection, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and major creditors including King Charles III, the Duke of Fife, Cartier, Chaumet and France's own national collections.
Some of the standout loans include the giant 57-carat Star of Golconda diamond; the sapphire crown and emerald tiara created by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria were reunited here for the first time in more than 150 years; and diamond-encrusted decorations on Catherine the Great's dress. Created for an Indian ruler, the Cartier necklace combines platinum-age European designs with centuries-old gemstones.
Safety front and center
The curators did not comment on the details of operational security. But the Hôtel de la Marine stresses that it has been rebuilt to meet modern high-security requirements when it opens in 2021, and that its galleries have been designed with security in mind. The museum did not say whether any measures had been stepped up in response to the Louvre robbery.
However, the latest exhibition comes at a time when Paris is urgently tightening protection for museums.
Last month, Louvre director Laurence de Cars announced that about 100 new surveillance cameras and upgraded intrusion protection systems would be installed. The first measures will be taken in a few weeks, with the full network expected by the end of next year. The Louvre investigation remains active; meanwhile, none of the stolen parts were restored.
Arthur Brand, an art detective from Amsterdam, said the Louvre robbery would heighten vigilance at institutions such as the Hôtel de la Marine.
“The authorities have learned a lesson from the lack of security at the Louvre,” he said. “The thieves know that security here will not be lax. They have learned their lesson. It's good that the exhibition continues. Life goes on. Don't give in to thieves. Show these precious things!”
With the closing of the Apollo Gallery, the Hôtel de la Marine may suddenly become a major stop for jewel lovers – an unfortunate coincidence or an unexpected benefit – a place where visitors denied access to the Louvre's crown jewel exhibitions may naturally gravitate.
Power, prestige and anxiety
“We show how great gems, tiaras and virtuoso objects reflected the identity of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries,” said Amin Jaffer, director of the Al Thani Collection and co-curator of the exhibition. “They were expressions of power, reflections of prestige and markers of passion.”
This display of privilege and power looks different today. Just this weekend in Britain, protesters outside the Tower of London splattered custard and apple crumbles on a display displaying a royal crown during a demonstration against inequality.
The Louvre heist has heightened scrutiny of where such treasures came from. Museums are increasingly being forced to confront provenance more honestly and combat the exploitative networks that made treasures possible.
To some in Paris, celebrating the jewels so soon after the Louvre robbery seems inappropriate.
“To be honest, this is not the right time,” said Alexandre Benhamou, 42, manager of a Paris souvenir shop. “People are still upset about what happened at the Louvre, and now there's another jewelry exhibition opening right down the street. It's too early; we haven't even recovered from the initial shock.”
A building with memory
Before the revolution, the hotel, then called the Hôtel du Garde-Meuble, housed the crown jewels and royal collections – a history that the exhibition directly addresses. The fact that the 18th-century building's jewels were stolen in 1792 only adds to the irony: this section of Paris has already faced similar crimes.
Despite the intense backdrop, curators say they want visitors to wonder, dream and explore the layers of “affection, love, relationships, gift-giving” embedded in the objects.
“Every object here tells a story,” Jaffer told the AP. “They have changed hands since they were created and continue to survive.”
Thomas Adamson and Jeffrey Schaeffer, Associated Press
