Christophe Leribault, president of the Palace of Versailles, will take over the reins of the Louvre after the disaster over jewel theft | Culture | EUROtoday

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, will suggest this Wednesday within the Council of Ministers that Christophe Leribault, till now president of the Palace of Versailles, take the reins of the Louvre Museum, following the resignation this Tuesday of its former director, Laurence des Cars, who has been on the middle of all criticism for months after the spectacular theft of the French Crown jewels final October. His appointment, reported by a number of French media, must be introduced after the assembly of the Government staff.

Christophe Leribault, 63, returns to an establishment he already is aware of, having been appointed head of the Louvre’s graphic arts division in 2006. He faces the problem of righting the scenario that has been happening within the museum for months. The unbelievable assault revealed the safety failures within the establishment, however then the crises have been chained: one of many galleries was closed because of the threat of collapse, one other of the rooms was flooded and this was added in December by a workers strike that pressured probably the most visited museum on this planet to shut its doorways to the general public.

Leribault has expertise in a number of the nice Parisian museums, having labored on the Carnavalet Museum, the place he was answerable for the portray assortment, or the Eugène Delacroix. He was additionally director of the Petit Palais and succeeded Laurence des Cars as president of the D’Orsay Museum in 2021.

In 2024 he took the reins of the Palace of Versailles, one other of crucial cultural establishments in France. Leribault will even need to proceed with the venture Louvre new renaissance, promoted by Emmanuel Macron final yr and which seeks exactly to resume the artwork gallery and adapt it to the rising movement of tourists. In 2025 it obtained 9 million entries.

The former president of the artwork gallery seems once more this Wednesday within the parliamentary fee that was created after the theft to research the administration of the museum. On Tuesday, after resigning from his place, he admitted the errors made throughout his mandate (2021-2026), though he claims to have generally denounced the issues suffered by the museum.

After the theft, a number of audits and studies have warned of upkeep issues on the amenities, “with a disturbing level of obsolescence,” within the phrases of Laurence des Cars herself. The eight Crown jewels stolen on October 19, valued at 88 million euros however of incalculable asset worth, haven’t but appeared, though the 4 assailants have been arrested days later.

This similar Wednesday, the Ministry of Culture introduced the appointment of Annick Lemoine as president of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, each grouped inside the similar public establishment. Lemoine was till now director of the Petit Palais in Paris.

The profiles of Leribault and Lemoine “will know how to continue and consolidate the policies implemented by their predecessors, while providing a vision and returning serenity to the institutions of which they will be in charge,” in response to what the French president’s entourage instructed the newspaper. The Parisian.