France further close the Louvr

INTERNATIONAL

France further close the Louvre after a month of heist

Just nearly a month of the three days shutdown after the shocking, spectacular daylight heist, the Louvre, further has chosen to close down portion of one of its galleries temporarily as a precaution after an audit revealed structural weaknesses in some of the beams in the building.

The Campana Gallery, located on the first floor in the Sully wing at the far eastern end of the complex which houses nine rooms dedicated to ancient Greek ceramics will be shut while investigations are conducted into "certain beams supporting the floors of the second floor above it", a statement issued by the authorities on Monday said.

The announcement, as the senior officials claimed, has no link to the recent theft at the world’s most visited art gallery but is more unwelcome occurrence for an institution that has faced severe criticism over its security shortcomings in recent times.

On last 19 October, a four-strong gang raided the Louvre in broad daylight, using an extendable ladder and angle grinders and making off with jewellery worth an estimated $102 Million in front of bunches of startled visitors.

But, before the heist, the museum’s top administrator had warned about declining structural conditions inside the former royal palace.

In this year January, in an official communication, the Louvre top brass, Laurence des Cars had mentioned about a 'proliferation of damage in museum spaces, some of which are in very poor condition.'

Some areas were “no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of art works,” Laurence stated.