Laurence des Cars, the embattled director of the Louvre Museum in Paris has resigned.
She'd been under constant criticism over security failures following the daring daylight robbery last October at the world's most visited museum.
In a statement on its website, the Elysee Palace of French President Emmanuel Macron thanked her for her service.
"Mrs. Laurence des Cars has submitted to the President of the Republic her letter of resignation from the presidency of the Louvre Museum," it begins.
"The Head of State accepted it, hailing an act of responsibility at a time when the world's largest museum needs appeasement and a new strong impetus to carry out major security projects, modernization and the "Louvre – New Renaissance" project."
The statement goes on to thank her for her action and commitment in recent years and concludes by also offers her the opportunity to continue to play a role "within the framework of the French presidency of the G7 on cooperation between the major museums of the countries concerned."
It remains unclear however if she has accepted or why the President has decided to accept her quitting now as she first offered to step down back in October in the days just after the damaging burglary.
Security woes
In the same week of the raid, des Cars was one of many museum officials summoned to give evidence to France's Culture Commission in the Senate as questions abound over Louvre security.
The aim of her appearance was to explain how a gang of four men were able to steal several jewels belonging to France's ruling families in the 19th century.
Experts calculated the theft cost the state around €88 million "in economic terms alone", but the historical and heritage value is inestimable.
The answers which emerged at the Senate hearing revealed a thick catalogue of catastrophic errors and a history of unheeded warnings over the safety of the building.
Des Cars told the commission that since her appointment in 2021 she had regularly alerted senior government officials about the "state of deterioration and general obsolescence" of the institution, while pointing out that the staff "were not armed".
In addition she admitted that the museum's external video surveillance system was "very inadequate" and may have been a key contributing factor to thieves targeting the Galerie d'Apollon as it was one of many blind spots among the Louvre façades.
Structural issues and strikes
The Louvre is the world's most-visited museum with 8.7 million people passing through its doors in 2024, more than double the amount it was designed to take.
Around the beginning of last year, a leaked memo emerged of a note from des Cars to Culture Minister Rachida Dati which detailed various structural failings at France’s premier art gallery.
“Visiting the Louvre is a physical ordeal; accessing the artworks takes time and is not always easy,” des Cars said. “Visitors have no space to take a break. The food options and restroom facilities are insufficient in volume, falling below international standards. The signage needs to be completely redesigned.”
Des Cars, who took over as Louvre chief after stints as the director of the Musée d'Orsay and Musée de l'Orangerie, also raised concerns for the preservation of the museum’s artworks.
Damage to the museum spaces – in part because of overcrowding – has created the “very poor conditions” which “are no longer watertight, while others experience significant temperature variations, endangering the preservation of artworks”.
More recently, staff at the Louvre have gone on strike over pay and working conditions in action that's led to the partial closure of the museum since the start of 2025.
The French government estimates its "New Renaissance" renovation programme will cost between €700-800 million over ten years, of which it claims only a "very small part" will be financed by taxpayers.
Around €20 million per year is expected to come from the introduction of higher ticket prices for non-European visitors, which now require non-EU tourists now to pay €32, which represents a 45% increase.
Once complete, authorities say the Louvre Museum will be able to accomodate as many as 12 million visitors per year.
