The Louvre Museum has closed one of its galleries after an audit revealed structural weaknesses in some beams, prompting safety concerns.
The Campana Gallery, home to nine rooms of ancient Greek ceramics, will remain closed while investigations focus on certain beams supporting the floor above. Museum officials stressed the closure is unrelated to last month’s $102 million robbery, which involved a gang using ladders and power tools in broad daylight.
Earlier warnings from Louvre director Laurence des Cars highlighted damage in museum spaces, with some areas “no longer watertight” and others experiencing temperature fluctuations threatening artwork preservation. The Campana Gallery, on the first floor in the Sully wing, has structural issues in the second-floor beams above it.
The 65 staff members working there are temporarily relocated. Priceless exhibits, including thousands of vases and containers, will not be moved for now. The gallery was closed oon Nov. 17 as a precaution.
The museum shut down for three days after the October 19 theft. The broken window, visible from the street and the Seine, has become a tourist attraction. Four suspects, including two men believed to have broken in, face charges. The stolen jewels, including a diamond- and emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugenie, have not yet been recovered.
